Where Are We Lost?
by SlySenran408
Summary: Tens and his three brothers flee a doomed Republic Star Destroyer together. They stumble across an uncharted star system in the far outer-rim. Their discovery sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the fate of the Clone Wars and Star Wars Universe.
1. Chapter 1 Lost

**Authors Note:** Please Review, constructive criticism welcomed. Will post more chapters soon, hopefully... (Updated 8-8-2013)

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**Location: Uncharted Space, far Outer Rim, 39 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"I can't believe that we're still alive," sighed Tens, as their ship came out of hyperspace.

"Yeah _ner vod_, if it wasn't for me we would still be back on..." Riot started as he looked back from the pilot's seat towards the rest of his brothers. Jumps interrupted him by waving his hands above his head the best he could. They were all crammed into the ships cockpit, not the best place for three fully armored clones.

"Wait... Oh No! You're the one who picked this...er...this large bull's-eye red ship with no 'big' guns as our escape ship!" cried Jumps in irritation as he made his way over to the pilot's seat, giving his brother the best critical look he could muster.

"It got us off the cruiser didn't it?" answered Riot grinning as he looked back to the ships controls. For the short time Riot had piloted the ship, he'd fully enjoyed it, perhaps too much for the comfort of his fellow brothers.

"You're just lucky you figured out how to jump to hyperspace... Come to think of it, **where** did you learn to fly again?" Tens asked jokingly. He then joined Jumps in giving Riot their most serious looks.

"I... uhh... my squad asked me to fly a cargo ship back on Kamino," Riot replied sheepishly. He reminded himself not to mention how he almost killed himself and his brothers that day. Jumps however, never missing a chance to bug his brother, reminded him.

"Don't forget the part where you crashed the 'empty' cargo ship ten seconds after takeoff. That is if you could even call it a takeoff," he snickered.

Jumps would never ever forget the bet he and his brothers made. Right after Riot failed his first simulation flight, he was eager to redeem himself to his squad mates. So Jumps suggested that he try out one of the Kaminoan cargo transports. Making a point that it was far easier to fly than the simulated LAAT/i would be. Before anyone could stop Riot, he was in the cargo ship.

**Bang!**

Truthfully, Riot never even made it off the ground, as Jumps recalled. Riot managed only to push the throttle forward and somehow disengage the anti-grav lifts. With no help from any downward thrusters the ship collided straight into the cargo bay wall, screeching along the metal floor as it went. At the time, Jumps was almost disappointed the ship hadn't burst into a fiery explosion, but in hindsight he was glad his brother made it out alive. In the end though it was well worth the many demerits the squad received.

"How many times do I have to tell you Jumps, a gust of wind blew me off course," Riot assured his brother as he sat up from the pilot's seat to face him.

"We were indoors Riot!" Jumps said pushing his index finger against Riot's plastoid breast-plate.

"Knock it off you two," ordered Tens shaking his head.

'_I can't believe when I asked who had more piloting experience I gave the controls to Riot_,' he thought. Still shaking his head Tens turned to look out the cockpit towards Right'eye who was standing by the Nav-charts. "Right'eye, have you figured out where in the _kriff_ we are yet?" asked Tens.

Taking one last scrutinizing look at the screen, Right'eye took off his helmet. The clone brushed his hand across his brown hair in frustration, frowning he turned towards his brother.

"I'm afraid the ships navigational equipment has malfunctioned, or at least I think it has. It does show that we just passed one of the far, **far** outer rim systems, that's before Riot figured out how to stop the ship." He gestured one of his gloved hands towards their current pilot while shaking his head. He gave Tens a 'We're in over our heads' look before returning to his work.

Tens sighed heavily, this wasn't turning out to be a good day.

'_Great, just what I needed to hear. Today has been... well... lets just say its been a very bad day._

_Two seppie battleships ambushed our attack cruiser. We'd been patrolling the Churba System looking for them when they launched their attack. _

_After a valiant fight against the two massive ships, our Captain ordered everyone to abandon ship. I panicked, di'kut, and missed my escape pod. Then I found these two shinies running down a hallway in a panic. I asked them where their squad was, they told me they didn't know. So I decided to let them come with me. Which wasn't too bad as I then ran into Right'eye, my brother by choice. He'd missed his pod as well. _

_To be honest, Riot and Jumps are not far behind me and Right'eye in experience. We'd been deployed about a month before them at the Battle of Geonosis. A battle in which me and Right'eye were the lone survivors of our own squad. Fierfek, why am I even thinking about that? _

_Anyways, we decided to go to the landing bay, we figured/hoped that there would still be a ship there. That's when Riot found the Consular Cruiser which, not surprisingly, was still there. How did Jumps phrase it, 'a big red bull's-eye with no big guns'. When I asked the others for piloting experience, Riot said he had the most and given our current situation, I wasn't about to argue. As soon as we made it past the Star Destroyers bay doors, Riot miraculously found the Hyperdrive controls and presto, we're now floating in the very outer reaches of the known galaxy. Thinking back, I probably would have tried to rescue as many brothers as I could from the launched pods. I hope they survived. However, for us, I honestly fail to see how this day could get any worse. _

Just then, Right'eye turned around and gave Tens another concerned look, interrupting his thoughts. "I should also probably mention that it seems the ship is leaking engine coolant. We probably hit debris making our escape. Which means the engines are in danger of overheating and... um, blowing up," Right'eye finished shaking his head.

_I stand corrected._


	2. Chapter 2 A Choice or Two

**Location: Uncharted Space, far Outer Rim, 39 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"Are there any nearby star systems we could make it to?" Tens asked Right'eye.

Right'eye brought up their current location on the ships Holoprojector. "There's this one here," he said pointing to the star system, then continued, "The one we just passed, but it is an uncharted star system," he finished looking up.

"What does he mean by 'uncharted'?" questioned Jumps as he walked into the cockpit, back from using the ships refresher.

"He means it's one of the thousands of observed but never fully explored outer star systems," Tens replied. Flash training always seemed to provide the answers to Riots most annoying questions. Then with a smirk Tens added, "Well, pirates may have visited the planet but not much else." He thoroughly enjoyed the startled reaction of the two shinies. Jumps unconsciously moved a little closer to his brother in the pilot's seat.

"Pirates? You don't think we'll run into any do you?" questioned Riot nervously. He shifted slightly in his seat while staring blankly out at the nearby dim star system.

Tens just laughed, "If we do _ner vod_, I'll make sure you're the one we send out to negotiate with them, however I think pirates are the least of our worries." Jumps shot Tens an accusing look for even mentioning using his brother by choice as pirate bait.

"Now I need someone to figure out how to get us to that star system, a-sap" ordered Tens changing the subject of discussion. He hoped Jumps knew that he was joking, but it seemed that Jumps was sometimes just too serious.

Technically, Tens didn't rank higher than the rest of his brothers here, but so far no one objected to him taking charge. Ever since Kamino, he had been second to their squad sergeant. When his other squad mates died in the downed LAAT/i at Geonosis, he and Right'eye were re-assigned to the 442nd Siege Battalion. He hoped the rest of his new squad had survived the separatist ambush, they were really nice to him and Right'eye, helping them fit into their new legion. They had lost some of their men in a previous battle, so he and Right'eye were their replacements.

They were both able to re-paint their armor in 442nd green; their new squad sergeant decided Geonosis was enough experience. Tens though preferred 501st blue, but it's not like they had any choice as to where they got transferred, clones had no choice. For Tens it was just something about the red and yellow paint of other legions that brought back to many memories of Geonosis.

Turning around, Tens smiled at their current 'captain', Riot, "Right'eye why don't you try your hand at flying this ship for a while, I think our new pirate ambassador's sheb's could use a break."

Suddenly it occurred to Tens that out of all of them, Right'eye had the most experience in flying anything.

'_Why didn't I give him the controls earlier? He helped fly our old squad out of a few risky situations on Geonosis with ease, well until we got shot down, but that wasn't his fault so why not let him at it once more. If Riot got us this far without killing us then Right'eye should do fine, I hope.'_

After some complaining from Riot, Right'eye seized hold of the controls and piloted them to the uncharted system. Fortunately for them, the star system had many planets. Thus began the task of looking for life or something that would get them home.

"Do any of these gas giants look habitable?" Riot asked while gazing at a large blue planet that their ship was passing.

"No, we're looking for smaller planets or moons. Anything with life signatures," replied Tens.

He then turned to Jumps, "Speaking of life signatures, Jumps, use the ships scanners and sensors to look for any signs of life or mechanics on the planets we're passing. If we're leaking coolant I don't want to double back for something we missed earlier. Right'eye will show you where the scanner interface is."

"I'm on it," replied Jumps, glad he finally received an assignment. He went and sat next to Right'eye in the cockpit.

"Oh, and Jumps, make sure to send out a distress signal too, I doubt it will reach anyone this far out but…uhh, might as well," Tens added as Right'eye began helping Jumps.

"Umm, Sir?" Riot stood up from where he was sitting in the main cabin and went over to Tens. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Riot, please stop with the Sir bit, I thought we straightened that out earlier in Hyperspace. We are of equal rank here," then realizing what he just said, Tens quickly added, "However, **I am** leading this group." Then frowning, Tens started thinking of things for Riot to do that would be useful, it didn't take long.

"Ah, Riot I need you to catalog everything in this ship, all supplies, excess cargo, and all emergency gear. Also, make a list of our remaining food provisions and water bulbs. Send the list to my HUD when your finished. Keep a lookout for any extra weapons, they may come in handy. Think you can handle that?" asked Tens, giving Riot a firm look.

"Yes Sir!" replied Riot, standing at attention.

"At ease Riot! And no Sir's!" Tens barked back in irritation.

"Yes Sir, I mean leader, Sir…er…I mean…" he stumbled, trying to figure out how to deal with the ranking situation. Losing his patience Tens shouted, "Get moving Trooper!" in frustration. Jumping up at the tone, Riot instinctively ran off to start cataloging.

Walking into the cockpit Tens gave an annoyed smile to Right'eye who nodded his head in understanding. They would have to officially make one of them their leader, an unofficial sergeant. Tens knew Right'eye wouldn't want the job, which left himself as the next most likely candidate. Well, why not, he was already leading the group.

They passed two more gas giants; neither of which showed any signs of intelligent life. However, the first rocky planet they approached showed signs of life, well, sort of.

"Hay Tens! The scanner has found something on the planet ahead!" Jumps exclaimed jumping up from the console, his face beaming with excitement and pride over his newfound scanning abilities.

"What did you find on the planet?" asked Tens, deciding caution was the best route. Who knew what types of creatures lived in this system. Or what type of weapons they had. He went over to see the scanners for himself.

Jumps moved to the side to allow him to view the scanners but continued talking. "It's showing robotic activity near the northern pole on the surface of the red planet ahead of us," he said looking back up to Tens who was neither frowning nor smiling, just thinking.

_Aww kriff! Another desert planet! I am really starting to hate them, the sand and general lack of anything hospitable. On the other hand though, there's probably no Geonosian's, which makes it my favorite desert planet so far…_

He grinned, "Well, that's a relief…sort of," thinking about possibly running into pirates. After glancing back to Right'eye he continued, "Right'eye, take us to the planet and land us near one of those tinnies. But keep your distance, I don't want trouble with any species out here, pirate or not." As he finished Right'eye piloted them towards the unknown planet.

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(Updated 6-20-13)


	3. Chapter 3 Project O Adelfós

**Authors Note: **Starting this chapter off a little differently. This ones also a little shorter, sorry. I'll have to make up for it in the future.

As mentioned in the stories summary, what the clones find in this system will change the events of the star wars universe, meaning some characters who die in the clone wars don't in this story... Please review, as always constructive criticism welcomed. (Updated 6-20-13)

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**Project O Adelfós**

Meanwhile on a planet in the same system, a proximity alert sounded off at the control center for the two robots, alerting two technicians on the night shift…

"_Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked the first in disbelief. _

"_Yeah, I do but I am still working on believing it," replied the second as equally startled._

"_This isn't possible," continued the first._

"_Well, normally I'd agree but…" started the second. _

_Coming to his senses the first interrupted, "We should tell them, the sooner the better."_

"_Do you really want to be the one to tell the boss about this?" laughed the second._

"_No… that's why you're going to," replied the first thoughtfully._

"_Wait, why me and not you?" the second asked in an irritated tone. _

"_Because you have a lower pay grade than me," replied the first with a smirk. _

"_He'll think it's a joke. Heck, I still don't think this is real," the second reconciled. _

"_Yeah, well hurry it up; the morning shift will be in soon. We can't let them know," reminded the first._

"_Fine, but if I get fired over this, you're going down with me," said the second as he ran off to get their boss. _

"_Very well, just hurry it up. I don't know how much longer they will be there!" yelled the first after the other. _

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**Location: Unknown Planet, far Outer Rim, 39 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"Great! Jumps, I thought you said this planet had signs of life on it. The atmosphere is too thin to support any meaningful lifeforms, and the air isn't breathable," Tens exclaimed while looking at one of the ships monitors. He then glared angrily back at Jumps waiting for a response.

"I recall saying that there were signs of **robotic** activity on it not signs of life," Jumps stated matter-of-factly as he walked over to look at the same screen his brother was so aggravated about.

"It's not like Jumps can even distinguish between the two," added Riot with a smirk of amusement across his face. Ignoring both his brothers looks of irritation Riot continued, "I finished with the catalog of our supplies. I've sent it to all of our HUD's."

Tens smiled, nodding his head in approval.

"Well done vod, you've earned yourself a Muja Fruit when we get back home," Tens replied jokingly. The effect on Riot though was quite obvious. He stood a little taller, pride showing in his face. "Thanks, Sir," he said.

Tens and Jumps looked at each other in amusement. Both shook their heads and laughed a little before returning to their assessment of the planet they were now landing on.

After finishing their assessment both Tens and Jumps with the help of Riot went to gather the required gear. Tens, returning to the cockpit gave Right'eye some landing advice, "Well, since there doesn't seem to be any life forms, land us a little closer to the two tinnies Right'eye. We might as well check them out; they could give us a clue as to who put them here."

With that, Right'eye landed the ship behind a small knoll, separating them from the two robots they'd detected. The four clones prepared their suits for the short walk, sealed on their helmets with hiss , grabbed their DC-15A's and headed out. Much to Tens annoyance the planet was orange, dim, very sandy & dusty like Geonosis. But, unlike Geonosis, it was very, very cold.

"If it wasn't for the below freezing temperature, I would say we were back on Geonosis," stated Tens checking his bodysuit's climate control. "Make sure your buckets are sealed tight. We can't spend too much time out in this environment," he reminded the others.

"You don't think the seppies are here do you?" asked Riot as he nervously looked around, almost tripping over a small rock.

"What would the separatist want with a dead planet such as this? Besides, I would have detected them," Jumps conceited. He then promptly tripped over a smaller boulder muttering a string of curses as he went. Riot helped him back up, while the other two just laughed. Jumps, now covered with red sand, rejoined the others as they finished climbing the knoll. Below them lay a small valley with two small identical ice filled craters. In each crater was a robot and between them a landing craft.


	4. Chapter 4 The Resolute

**Authors Note:** Sorry it took so long to update. However, spring break for college is a lot busier than it should be. I finally get to write for some cannon characters below. Hopefully I did them justice, if not please review. I am always looking to improve my writing, especially for character personalities.

Also, if it wasn't obvious, I do not own Star Wars, that privilege belongs to Lucasfilms. I do own my OC's though. (Updated 6-20-13)

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**Location: Churba System, Mid Rim, 39 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"Did the captain survive?" asked General Skywalker to Captain Rex as he entered the Resolute's bridge. Rex turned from the conversation he was having with Admiral Yularen to address the General.

"Some of the survivors say he may have died with his ship, sir," replied Rex as he walked to the front of the ships bridge with the General. Their ship, the Resolute, had been called in to search for survivors from Tens, Right'eye, Jumps, and Riot's doomed attack cruiser. They found most of the crew and escape pods of the 442nd. The ship was only transporting two of the battalion's four companies back to Coruscant to regroup with the battalions other half. They were called out of Hyperspace along the way to check out this Republic Allied system for any signs of Separatist activity. That's when they were ambushed.

"Did any of the survivors see where the Separatist forces went? It's not like them to attack and then leave all these men alive. There has to be a reason," questioned Anakin. Rex signaled for them to go over to the ships Holo-projector. He had an officer bring up a 3D model of the doomed cruiser and played back the pieced together ambush.

"The surviving clones say that a Consular Cruiser fled the ship here just before it blew up," Rex replied pointing to the tiny holographic ship as it left the disintegrating cruiser. "The ship then went into Hyperspace. They said that the two Separatist Cruisers followed the cruiser into this sector of space only after a few minutes," finished Rex as he pointed to where the three ships had gone.

"Where there any diplomats on the ship that could have fled?" asked Anakin crossing his arms in thought.

"No sir, there were none. The clones believe that some surviving crew members, possibly the captain, used the cruiser to fool the seppies into chasing after the ship in hopes of capturing diplomats, thus saving the remaining survivors," finished Rex.

"That's uncharted space they've headed for. Do we know whether the captain was onboard or not?" asked Anakin looking back at Rex with his arms still folded.

Rex paused for a moment before replying, thinking over what had occurred thus far. "I think he could be aboard, sir. And even if he isn't, I think we owe it to those crew members to look for them," he replied, looking towards the still smoldering remnants of the attack cruiser.

"I agree," replied Anakin hesitantly, "However I don't think we will be able to aid directly in the search unless command Okay's it. What do you think Admiral?" finished Anakin looking back to Admiral Yularen.

"While I would normally say no General, this is the first Separatist forces we've come across in more than a week. And since one of our destroyers was destroyed, I see no reason why we shouldn't hunt them down. As long as command gives the all clear," finished Admiral Yularen.

Shortly there after, the Resolute received confirmation to go ahead with their hunt. They would also be joined by the 212th on the Negotiator, General Kenobi's flagship. The Negotiator was on course near that section of space so command decided to make it a joint mission, much to Anakin's chagrin. The Resolute, after one last sweep of the current star system, jumped to Hyperspace on their new mission.

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**Location: Unknown Planet, far Outer Rim, 39 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"Well, do any of you know what these two sorry excuses for an astromech do?" Riot asked the others. They had been looking over the two tinnies for quite some time.

"I believe they are drilling into the ice or doing some sort of sampling activity," replied Tens smartly, with nods of agreement coming from both Right'eye and Jumps. The only way they could tell was from the soft whirling sound and the slow rotation of a rod going into the ice.

"I think its drilling slower than even the slowest Hutt. Isn't that a record or something?" added Riot teasingly.

Ignoring their brother the other three continued their discussion. "I can't really make out what the markings on them say. Their definitely not from this planet," stated Right'eye. Then pointing to another craft only a hundred feet away between the two robots he said "That craft looks like it brought them here. You can see the tread tracks that go from it to where they're at now."

All four of them walked over to the landing craft. "Well, there are no usable parts or anything that might get us back. Do we have enough coolant left to get us off this planet to continue looking?" asked Tens, gazing back towards their ship. "Yes, but I don't think we should land again, eh, unless we actually find an intelligent species," replied Right'eye.

Disappointed, they headed back to their ship after looking around a bit more. Jumps and Riot wanted to blow up one of the robots with some extra det chord but Tens reminded them that they weren't trying to make enemies. Jumps satisfied himself, with no avail, to cleaning off all the red sand that statically clung on to his armor from his fall earlier.

For the first time since they fled the cruiser Tens was worried. Worried they might not find anyone. Worried he might not get his brothers back home. He worried that, even if they did find someone or something in this star system, that it might not be friendly and that disturbed him. He couldn't quite get over the sense that something bad was going to happen.

The clones lifted off, making their way to the next planet. Meanwhile, outside the star system, two Separatist Battle Cruisers came out of Hyperspace. Finding no major Republic starship activity in the sector, they prepared to head back. That's when they received a Republic distress signal coming from the nearby uncharted star system. It was decided that one ship would stay out of the system while the other hunted for the escaped Republic ship.


	5. Chapter 5 A Joke?

**Authors Note: **Yes, new cover art! If you're wondering who, its Tens...I'll explain more at the bottom of this chapter, but read first, please review.

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**_Project O __Adelfós_**

"_This is a joke, right? The Director asked almost pleadingly._

"_No, sir. Unfortunately this is not a joke. At first it was hard for me to believe too, sir," replied the first mission tech._

"_How? I mean if this is real then…Get me a line to the President, now," ordered the Director as he walked closer to the video monitor. _

"_Yes sir," replied one of the accompanying security officers._

"_Is that a smiley face on the side of the left crater?" he whispered to himself._

"_Uhh, yes sir, one of them drew it while the others weren't looking, sir. I don't exactly know what it means though," replied the second mission tech. _

_Shaking his head the Director replied, "It means this mission is now classified, lock down the building and don't let anyone go anywhere until I talk with the President and the NSC."_

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**Location: Uncharted System, far Outer Rim, 40 days after Battle of Geonosis**

"Well, this has to be the home planet for those tinnies, the life and robotic readings are off the charts," stated Jumps as he walked into the cockpit. There Tens, Riot and Right'eye were staring at a large blue/green half lit planet in front of them.

"Well, how should we approach this? I mean we can't just land in one of their cities and say we need replacement parts. I don't even know if they've been in contact with the Republic, ever," stated Tens.

"Well, you'll have to avoid the massive amount of communication probes orbiting the planet. There are thousands, though they're too small to have any life support systems," added Jumps who was also staring at the planet.

"We could try to send a message," suggested Riot looking back at Tens.

"Yeah, we could but they might not be able to understand it. And on the off-chance they do, I don't want to cause panic," replied Tens.

"I wouldn't mind panic, as long as I am the one causing it and I have my decee," added Riot with a smirk.

Ignoring Riot, Tens continued, "Lets land on the dark side of the planet, preferably through some clouds for cover, outside one of their population centers."

"Very well," replied Right'eye as he started the decent towards the planet.

'_This could end very badly,' _thought Tens_, 'I don't know why but I have a strange sense that something is wrong, I just don't know what. I keep thinking that sending out that distress signal was a bad idea. And this planet, this star system, it just doesn't make sense why such a large alien population has gone completely unnoticed for so long. I just hope their friendly.'_

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"_Mrs. President, you're needed at once in the Situation Room," asked the Vice President urgently as he ran into the President's living quarters._

"_Can't it wait till morning James; I just went to bed, for peat's sake its 3 in the morning," she replied looking at the nearby clock._

"_I am sorry for the early wake up but it's very important you come at once," James replied anxiously._

"_What could be so important? Is someone threatening nuclear war again or something," she asked while getting dressed. _

"_No, not yet…" he replied._

_###_

_When she got to the room, she noticed three things immediately. One, everyone had coffee, the aroma of the caffeinated drink was almost too overpowering. Two, every one of national importance was there, even all the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Three, the director of NASA was there too, which was unusual._

"_What's going on, why the early wakeup call," she asked as everyone stood up as she entered the room._

_At first no one said anything; they all either stared down at their shoes or looked away. For most it was too early in the morning for them to be called down, half didn't even manage to mumble 'Madame President' as she entered._

_Finally the Director from NASA spoke up, "There is really no easy way of saying this Mrs. President but… We've made first contact." There was a pause as the various members of government reacted with gasps or sighs of disbelief. _

_Then the silence broke, "You mean like first 'alien' contact," she asked somewhat unbelieving. _

"_In short yes," the Director replied. _

_After another brief pause she asked bluntly, "Where, when and umm… What do they look like?" _

"_On Mars, at the site of Project O __Adelfós. We made contact today, the__ 25__th__ at 1:00 am. And as to what they look like, I'll, uh, let you see for yourself. Look at the video screen in front of you. I am going to show you the raw video from the project cameras," he finished. _

_After watching the recording, the President was the first to speak, "This is a joke right?" she stated looking around at the men and women in front of her, disbelief evident in her voice. _

"_I am afraid it is no joke Mrs. President; there is no way that those are not real," replied the Director. _

"_Their Clone Trooper's, like the clones from the movies, the movies! How can that be possible?" she asked with an incredulous look. _

"_I think it's premature to suggest that their clones Ma'am, if these beings have observed us for long enough they might be mimicking something that's familiar to us. In either case however, we should prepare ourselves for their arrival, their ship has technology far more advanced than anything we have currently," the director said pointing to a freeze frame of the ship lifting off._

_Continuing the Director stated, "We don't know of their weapons capabilities other than that they seem to carry guns of some sort. I would recommend to you and the NSC to bring our troop readiness to at least DEFCON 3 and to alert our closest allies at the UN. We do not yet know of their intentions." _

_After debating the issue with the NSC and Joint Chiefs, she agreed._

"_Very well, we'll raise our alert status to DEFCON 3 and alert our allies to do the same. And Director, have every telescope, every satellite and measuring device looking for that ship. Have our ISA agents on the ready for deployment to wherever they land, if they land," ordered the President._

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**A/N: **So yes, Tens gets new armor. Commando armor to be precise, later in this story. But we are not there yet so that's all the info you'll get. As to the origin of the artwork please look at my profile page. As always please review. I do not own star wars... (Updated 6-20-13)


	6. Chapter 6 Capture

**Location: Unknown Planet, far Outer-Rim, 40 days after Battle of Geonosis**

In a forest clearing outside an unknown city, the clones landed.

"Okay Tens, where's my ten credits?" asked Right'eye as he stood up from the pilot's chair.

"Umm, what credits? I don't recall owing **you** anything _ner vod_," said Tens smiling, dodging his head from his brothers annoyed stare.

"Oh no… you said, 'I'll bet you ten Dactaries you can't land us in that forest clearing,' and I accepted. I landed us perfectly, dead center, so where are my credits?" pestered Right'eye as he followed Tens and the others into the ships main cabin, near the soon to be lowered boarding ramp.

"Okay, fine, they're right here," said Tens holding two credit chips just out of Right'eye's reach. He had actually found 200 republic credit chips in the main cabins storage compartment after a few minutes aboard, but all Right'eye had to know was he had ten credits. Brushing past the two, Riot and Jumps grabbed their gear, preparing to go outside.

After giving the two shinies an annoyed look, Tens and his brother began looking over their own gear and checking the charge on their blasters. Finally Tens conceded, "I'll give them to you once we are outside, I want to see just how good of a job you actually did."

"Ok, but you know damn well I did a good job," he replied. They all placed their helmets on each, with a click and hiss as each helmet sealed to their bodysuits. Switching on their HUD's and comm channels and nodding to each other, they proceeded down the ramp.

As they neared the bottom of the ramp, Right'eye, seeing his opportunity, grabbed for the credits. Tens, still wanting to give him a hard time, threw the chips farther away into some brush.

"Great, thanks you _di'kut_," Right'eye chided as he ran after them.

"Wait, stop!" Tens yelled into his Comm, something inside him was yelling to him that Right'eye was in danger. The warning came too late though. All around them, seemingly out of the grass and trees, appeared at least a hundred soldiers with their weapons pointed right at them. They were all wearing black armor and black shiny helmets with blindingly bright lights attached. Aircraft with spotlights then too, appeared from seemingly nowhere above the trees.

A short yell captured Tens attention from the others as he watched Right'eye fall to the ground in front of them, subdued by at least six soldiers.

"Freeze, drop your weapons and put your arms up high, your completely surrounded," yelled one of the soldiers.

Tens had no choice; he wanted to fight, to free his brother, but they were completely outnumbered 25 to 1. He'd been outnumbered more than that by droids but droids are dumb, these are soldiers, well-trained soldiers by the looks of it.

Tens signaled to Jumps and Riot to lay down their arms and do as instructed. The two shinies obeyed, lowering their blaster riffle's and raising their arms above their heads. The soldiers wasted no time in detaining them. They proceeded to cover their helmets with bags and cuff their hands behind their backs.

Unbeknownst to the clones, they got loaded into one of the aircraft and flown to a secure military base 25 miles away.

Partially aware of the constant hum of the transport they were on Tens thought, '_I let this happen. I let my brothers down, especially Right'eye. It was just a joke. Why weren't we, no, why wasn't I more vigilant. I was leading them._

_What ever happens to us is on me, it's my fault, I let this happen. I solely take the blame for any harm that occurs to my men, my brothers. I just hope we can explain who we are to these people. At least they're that, people, or they look like people. Oddly, they speak basic too. That should help, I hope.'_

With those last thoughts, Tens slowly drifted out of consciousness, barely being aware of the soft hiss of gas being administered through his helmet.

**Location: Hyperspace, far Outer-Rim, heading to uncharted space, 40 days after Battle of Geonosis**

Commander Cody didn't like the current situation. He thought it was highly unusual of command to call them out of Hyperspace to an uncharted backwater outer-rim star system. And the fact that they were to aid in the 501st's quest to find a missing consular cruiser, seemed highly unnecessary, overkill to be precise.

He looked back to General at the briefing table; Kenobi was into one of his hour-long rants, about how critical the Negotiator and 212th was in the upcoming mission. After rendezvous with the Resolute outside the uncharted star system, both ships would enter and search the system for the surviving crew. If any CIS forces were found, they would be neutralized immediately.

Cody didn't doubt that they would find the Sepp's in the system, it was obvious they were looking for diplomatic hostages, why else would they chase a ship this far out? But would they find the missing crew? He wasn't sure.

One thing Cody was looking forward to on this upcoming mission was seeing Captain Rex again. He liked the captain a lot, he even considered him a friend, though he didn't always agree with how the captain went about missions. He guessed that was partly Skywalker's fault. He was a bad influence to be around when it came to joint missions between the 212th and 501st.

Just then General Kenobi's voice interrupted his thoughts…

"Commander,"

"Uhh, Yes Sir?" Cody asked, unsure if he should be agreeing with the General on something.

"Please prepare the men for our arrival in the system. We will be arriving within a few minutes of the Resolute and I want the ship in full alert if we encounter CIS resistance," Kenobi ordered, then added, "And Cody… this is only a side mission, once this is over, were back on our original path."

'_Ahh, an order. If there's one thing I can follow'_…thought Cody.

"Yes sir, we will be ready for anything when we arrive in system," he said, at attention. Then turning, he left the room for the bridge.

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**A/N: **Well it seems that Tens got everyone into a bit of a situation. Will Right'eye forgive him for his carelessness, can he forgive himself? Also a hint of how things are going on the Negotiator. As always, please review. I do not own star wars, only my OC's. (Updated 8-6-13)


	7. Chapter 7 Questions

**A/N:** Ok, I am now updating every weekend, college is time-consuming. As for the story, I'll explain a few plot points below, but read this chapter first. Please review.

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**Location: Unknown Planet, far Outer-Rim, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Tens awoke slowly and looked around. As his eyes came into focus he took in his surroundings. He sat at a table in a small blazingly white room. He found that his arms and legs had been constrained to the chair he was sitting in. The wall in front of him consisted of what he presumed was a solid glass panel. To his right near the glass wall there was a door, which was also white. Even the table he was sitting at was white.

With a sudden shiver, Tens realized that not only was his helmet off, but all of his armor was. He was only wearing his suits bodyglove. _'Luckily whoever these people are, they have some sense of common decency. Where am I anyways?'_

Suddenly, the door to his right opened. In walked two of the black masked uniformed soldiers, the same who had captured them earlier.

They went to stand on either side of him. Moments later a woman walked in and sat down across from him. She's dressed in what Tens thought was military type clothing. Not once did she look up at him. She proceeded to bring out what Tens took as a data pad, though it was different from what he saw in the GAR. A few moments of silence passed, then she finally asked him a question, still looking down at her data pad.

"Who are you? And why have you come to our world?" she asked softly.

After considering what he should and shouldn't tell these new people he replied in a strong tone, "I am Clone Trooper 20-1010 of the Grand Army of the Republic. You can call me Tens. I came here with my men by mistake." He regarded here with cool disdain. He didn't appreciate how visitors were treated on this world.

After a moment's pause the woman asked another question, "What are your intentions?"

Great, he loved how vague these questions were.

"I wasn't planning on hurting anyone if that's what you mean. However that could change quickly," he paused, glancing at his guards amused with his own wishes, then looking back to the woman he continued, "First I need to know where my men are?" he asked slowly, putting an emphasis on his question.

"They are safe, I assure you… They're clones too, aren't they?" she asked still looking at her data pad.

"Yes, they are my brothers. If anything becomes of them…" he started.

"Nothing will, I promise," she interrupted.

"What guarantee is that?" he yelled, then continued; "We arrive to your planet, step off our ship and are immediately assaulted, bound and knocked out. How do I know you aren't torturing them or sending them off to be 'reconditioned'?" he questioned angrily. Something odd occurred while he was yelling, the table moved without being pushed by anyone. Tens was so angry at the moment, he didn't realize it.

Both guards shifted next to him, bringing their guns higher. He realized then that these people probably didn't know exactly what it meant to be 'reconditioned'.

"Because…" she said, then turning around she pointed to the glass. Behind her the right half of the black glass panel turned clear. Reveling a blindfolded Right'eye, Riot & Jumps, to the visible relief of Tens. They were standing in a small room by a door and were being guarded by at least a dozen of the black suited soldiers.

After a few moments of letting relief wash over him he continued, "Look, I am just a soldier, not a diplomat. My main concern is getting me and my brother's home. I have no ill will towards your world. If you let us go, I can contact the Republic, and then they can send their diplomats here to talk. If you don't, when they come looking for us, they will not approve of your handling of us," Tens warned, looking back to the woman.

"I wish it were that simple," she replied, looking at him for the first time. Her face was stern and her black hair slicked back, her blue eyes staring right through him. Tens had never really been with a woman before and the fact that this one was interrogating him, with little emotion, intimidated him.

"Why can't it be that simple, what's stopping you?" he asked agitated.

"What do you know of our star system?" she asked ignoring his question.

"Nothing, it showed up as an uncharted outer rim planetary system. Which means that few if anyone has traveled here," he answered truthfully.

Looking back to his brothers, he noticed Right'eye mouthing some words, 'Separatist here' over and over again.

Tens could only make out 'Separatist' but that's when it hit him. With sudden urgency, and realization of the threat they posed to this planet, Tens demanded, "Take me to one of your leader's. I just realized that we might have brought some unwanted guests to your star system. I need to speak to someone with authority immediately."

Tens would have to thank Right'eye for that later. It didn't surprise him that Right'eye had thought of it and not him. They fled the destroyer in a diplomatic ship, and for the Sepp's that was like dangling a pair of new Lightsabers in front of General Grievous.

The woman was actually taken back by such a sudden and urgent demand. She started to reply, "You mean the Separatists came with…" when suddenly the door opened once again and in walked more soldiers, escorting his blindfolded brothers and another man. He was dressed in a suite and looked very rushed. Tens barely even registered that she had said 'Separatist'. He hadn't mentioned them and he doubted that his brothers had either. He would have to ask these people about that later.

Tens was surprised when the man ordered the soldiers to untie him. The same was done for his brothers, who were brought to the left side of the room with Tens. The interrogator left and more official's filled in behind the glass, where Tens brothers had just been. It was obvious that they had listened in on their conversation.

Quickly composing himself, the new man introduced himself.

"Hello, um…welcome to the Planet Earth. My name is James R. Elliott. I am the Vice President of the United States of America. It is good to finally meet you all in person."

After a brief pause, he continued with a more solemn tone, "I am sorry for the way that you have been handled but it was deemed necessary at the time. But now that we know who you really are, we need your help."

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**A/N: **So it looks like our friends might get help after all, or end up giving some.

Some of you want to know why the President was contacted first. Well, this story takes place around 2035, or around a month into the clone wars. Anyways in my story, the UN has a lot more power than it has now, the US is one of the main power players behind this. With a new world congress and judicial system established for international issues, current protocol's are changed. And yes, even in this story the US is bending their own rules. Something to do with heightened tensions with China. What's new?

I intend to work a lot of this and much more into the plot later on, be patient. As always review, any ideas are warmly welcomed. I do not own Star Wars...

(Updated 6-20-13)


	8. Chapter 8 Meeting

**Authors Note: **Hello all, long time no post, sorry about that. Been more busy than I would have ever thought possible in the last two weeks. Hopefully you like this chapter, please read and review. I don't own Star Wars...

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**Location: Planet Earth, far Outer-Rim, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Finally, Tens was face to face with someone of authority on this planet, Earth. What these people needed help with though, he could only guess. It was probably the Separatist, the Republic or both if Right'eye's presumptions where true. He hoped it was just the Republic.

After Tens introduced his brothers to the Vice President they were all escorted down a very long hall to another room. It was a command center of some sort. Men and women in military style uniforms were running about everywhere, shouting orders and requests. Large screens flashed different images and maps with data.

The only thing that bothered Tens, other than that he felt practically naked without his kit, was a specific alarm that kept going off; sending a chill down his spine. It reminded him of the alarms on the Lartie that crashed on Geonosis; where he lost half of his original squad.

They all waited there for a long time as more people entered and left. Tens longed for his armor; it gave him assurance and security, it was his second skin. But he had no clue about where it might be, probably being probed and studied. He decided he would ask about their kit's location soon.

Finally, having so many questions in his mind, he lost his patience.

"What do you need help with? What are we waiting for?" he demanded to James angrily.

Acknowledging Tens impatience with a nod, the Vice President stood and walked from the room. A moment later he returned with a well dressed woman. They both sat down across from the clones and the woman introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Lisa M. North, President of the United States and Co-chair for the United Nations… I am very pleased to meet you all," she stated, then continued, "I must apologize on behalf of our nation for your treatment as visitors to our world. You're the first extraterrestrial life our civilization has seen. So all necessary precautions were taken, for your safety and ours."

After another round of introductions from Tens squad and the many new officials that had filed in around the command center, the situation was finally explained to them.

"UN military surveillance satellites & NASA satellite telescopes are now tracking a very large spacecraft in the Solar System; similarly to how we tracked your spacecraft from the planet Mars. This spacecraft is moving very rapidly towards Earth, it will be here within a few hours. We need you to identify who it is. If they are Separatists or you're Republic, we need you to contact them so that we may try to establish diplomatic relations," informed a man introduced as a UN general.

With that info the General waved his arm towards the wall at the head of the long table that they were all gathered around. Images of the ship flashed onto the wall/screen.

Though they weren't the best quality images Tens had ever seen, they weren't too bad for as far away as the ship was, unfortunately it was clear that it was a Separatist ship. That wasn't good, but these people seemed rather militaristic. They might actually have a shot at defending the planet.

"That is a Separatist Battle Cruiser, what deffen…" Tens started, but a sudden thought occurred to him. How do they know about the Separatists? He didn't tell them, and his brothers wouldn't have, shouldn't have…

Turning to his _vod_ Tens asked, "Did any of you tell them about the Seppies?"

"No," replied the three of them in unison. Turning back to the President and UN officials Tens continued, "If my men didn't tell you about them then how do you know about the Separatist? What are you not telling us?" he questioned then added, "We won't help you further until we get an explanation."

Silence permeated the room, some US officials looked towards their leader while UN officials looked at the UN General. After an extended period of quiet, where the slightest noise could be heard, the President spoke.

"Well, I Uhh see you caught on to that little discrepancy," after a brief pause to gather her thoughts she continued, "That information isn't exactly classified in our world but it may prove vital in yours. I promise we will tell you everything soon, but we need your professional judgment in this current situation. Is this ship a threat to our world?"

'_Are these people telling the truth? What aren't they telling us? Can I trust them; all they have done thus far has been for their own safety. I guess it wouldn't hurt to help them out, the Separatist are a grave threat for any world.'_

With a sigh, hoping he was making the right choice, he replied, "Yes, if I was in your position, Mrs. President, I would consider them a threat to your world and your very existence in the galaxy. I don't know of you weapons capabilities or armed forces, but judging by what you have done to us thus far, I hardly think you don't have an army."

The room was once again quiet, as if they had all been hoping he would answer, 'Yeah, the Sep's and I go way back, they're good friends and wouldn't hurt a fly.' The president gave Tens a nod of acknowledgement as the situation sank in.

Finally, Right'eye added in, "If you give us access to our ship we will be able to aid you in your efforts, after all we have fought them for a lot longer than you. We could also try to contact the Republic for assistance too. Plus, if the Republic didn't know of your existence, then I doubt the Separatist do either, giving your world the element of surprise."

Right' eyes statement drew a nod of approval from almost everyone there, including Tens who seemed pleased by the recent turn of events.

"In that case," replied the President, getting up with everyone else at the table, except for the four clones.

"We will prepare our military for the Separatist arrival. Tens, you and your brothers will be given access to your ship, with our supervision. Your ship was moved to a secure location nearby. You have two hours to do what you need to do, then we will ask that you join us in the command center again, hopefully with your help we can defend Earth, and possibly forge a new alliance with the Republic." she finished, and with that left the room with her escorts.

For all the stress Tens had been under that day, he felt that hopefully it wouldn't turn out to be as bad of a day as he thought it would. These Earthlings didn't seem as bad as he had first thought. They were even allowing them to return to their ship. Maybe they would even get their gear back.

**Location: Hyperspace, heading to uncharted space, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

"General Skywalker, we will be coming out of Hyperspace in a few minutes, should we prepare the men in case of an ambush?" asked Captain Rex finding the Jedi in the ships hanger bay with his favorite astromech, R2-D2.

Anakin, after he finished buffing his starfighter's wing tip, finally looked back to reply to Rex who stood by the tail section of the craft at parade rest.

"Yeah Rex, get the ship in order and make sure that the Admiral knows that the Negotiator will be arriving a few seconds before us. I don't want to come out of Hyperspace with our guns firing at one of our own ships, as much of a surprise as that would be to my master," replied Anakin with a smile. He was imagining the hour's-long lecture he would receive if such an action were to occur.

"Very well sir, we will be ready," replied Rex as he left for the Resolute's bridge.

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**A/N:** I have a new side story to 'Where are we lost?' called 'Who am I?'. Yeah, I like questions as titles... It is good story I promise, at least check it out, it is a rather dark story currently, follows a group of clone commando's who's specific job is to hunt down traitors of the GAR. The story will be occurring before and during this story, therefore it won't be updated as much. (Updated 6-20-13)


	9. Chapter 9 The Marines

**Author Note:** I'm back! Ok, I know long time for no updates and unfortunately that's how my life is going for a while. I will try to update more often but we'll see.

**Story note:** The ISA as mentioned before and below is a government agency, its current version is **DISA**-Defense Information Systems Agency. For the story I dropped the D so it's the **I**nformation **S**ystems **A**gency. They have played and continue to play an important role in US national security, so I surmise that they will in the future as well. Also Happy Late Memorial Day, internet was down yesterday so you get the update today. Please Review. I don't own star wars...

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**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth. ISA East Coast Underground Complex-North America(ISA-ECUCNA), 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

The trip to their ship didn't take long. Tens and his brothers no longer needed to wear the required blindfolds while en route, nonetheless the armored vehicle that they got escorted into didn't allow them to see much anyways. Two black suited soldier guards in the truck presented to them all of their armor, much to Tens satisfaction. The soldiers had just taken off their black helmets.

The clone's kits were neatly stacked in the back, all in fine condition. Right'eye and Tens both noticed immediately that their rifles, hand guns, grenades, first aid packs and vibroblades were not included. Tens had expected that at least.

While they all suited up, Tens noticed how the two soldiers looked in admiration at his brothers and himself.

"What, you two never seen clones before?" Tens quipped after clipping his helmet to his belt.

The two men glanced at each other before one spoke up.

"I can't exactly answer that, umm, sir? But you four are causing quite a bit of excitement around here. Just how many of you are there? I mean out in space?" asked the soldier excitedly. But before Tens could reply, the other soldier spoke up.

"Pardon my friend here, he asks too many questions for his own good… ah; I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet. I am Sergeant Trevor Kelly with the US Marine Corps ISA division 1st regiment. This is Lance Corporal Connor Black, Marine Corps. He is part of Delta Squad, my squad which has been assigned to guard and protect you four. We'll meet up with my other two Marines when we get to your ship, in about five minutes," finished Trevor.

Tens eyed the two Marines warily. He had a feeling that they wouldn't hesitate to kill him and his _vod_ if they did anything stupid, like try to escape. But that was his plan, get into their ship, then take off as fast as possible, make it into space, catch the sepp's attention, then hit the Hyperspace controls. With any luck, the sepp's would follow and this planet, at least for now would have some time to prepare for when they would surely return. Hopefully the consular cruiser wouldn't explode in Hyperspace; they still hadn't fixed the critical coolant leak problem.

"It's, uhh, nice to meet you Sergeant Trevor and Lance Corporal Connor… I'm Clone Trooper 20-1010, you can call me Tens. I'll let my brothers introduce themselves," he said shaking the two Marines hands.

"I'm Clone Trooper 23-0151, you can call me Right'eye," he said while shaking the Marines hands. "And these two here are clone troopers 23-1547 and 23-1549, or Jumps and Riot as they like being called," finished Right'eye. The two Marines shook hands with them as well.

"How many men does your squad normally have?" Tens asked Trevor, he was curios why there was both a Corporal and Sergeant in such a small squad of four.

Connor's face darkened and he looked away while Trevor looked down before looking back to reply.

"Normally I would have two to three fireteams under me, each with four Marines. But we lost most of my squad in a firefight recently overseas. We were called back to get new recruits when you guys showed up. Evidently they were looking for a small group to look after you four. All who's left is Connor and two of my Privates," he replied sorrowfully. After that everyone was quiet, Tens knew full well what it was like to lose your entire squad.

After a short while more the vehicle suddenly stopped. The two Marines went out to get the rest of their squad, telling the clones to stay put.

As soon as they left Tens spoke up, "When we get on our ship I need you three to be near me and the Marines. When I nod my head like this, we attack and immobilize them, try not to kill them. I don't like doing it this way but it's the only way we can get off planet." He then continued on explaining his plan.

While his brothers, specifically Jumps, didn't like backstabbing these new people this way, they all agreed it would be for the best. Besides, if they encounter Republic forces when they finally come out of Hyperspace they might be able to send help for Earth if the Separatists didn't take the bait.

Unbeknownst to Tens and his brothers, Connor stayed outside the transport truck, he heard everything the clones said. He informed Trevor of their plan when Trevor returned with their other two squad mates.

Trevor asked the clones to get out of the truck. The first thing they noticed was that they were in a large, presumably underground bunker, which confirmed what Tens had thought originally. There was constant truck traffic going to and from two opposite tunnels, many of the vehicles carried more of the black suited ISA Marines. Trevor then introduced the other two Marines that accompanied him.

"This is Private Aaron Meyer, Marine Corps and this is Private First Class Julia Rush, Marine Corps. They are good Marines, same as Connor," said Trevor proudly. Each Marine took their helmet off before shaking hands with the clones. "Come on this way, we moved your ship into an above ground bunker," added Trevor.

Tens and his brothers couldn't quite take their eyes off Julia. She was well, attractive to say the least. She acknowledged their stares with a slight smile then turned around to follow her squad to the lifts across the two truck lanes. Tens turned to give his brothers an amused look, which was more or less directed at Riot, who was most effected by the encounter. They all then followed the Marines into the lift.

Trevor typed in a code and then they were off, or at least Tens thought they were, it was quiet, only the flash of utility lights every second through a glass panel let him know that they were moving. After about a minute of traveling up fast they finally arrived with a soft thud, the doors opened and in front of them stood the consular cruiser. It was surrounded by scaffolds and mechanical equipment and a lot of people with white coats on and masks, as well as around 30 guards. The ship was in a vast room, with large hanger doors to their right and to the left the room stretched on until it reached another set of giant doors. Lining the sides of the left side of the room until the far doors were hundreds of the aircraft that had surrounded Tens and his brothers when they first landed. Plus there were other types of aircraft as well. Some were reminiscent of Larties while others looked more like Starfighter's to Tens.

"Nice place you got here, mind if we go aboard to gather our stuff?" asked Tens looking down the rows of aircraft, they were impressive but the Larties on his former Star Destroyer were more so.

"Sure, go ahead, but we'll have to go with you," replied Trevor. With that they all headed inside. The Marines placed their helmets back on for 'safety' reasons as Trevor assured Tens.

As they were walking aboard Jumps hit Riot upside the head after watching him stare at Julia's backside for an inappropriate amount of time; Riot then excused himself to use the Refresher much to Tens annoyance. The others went to the main cabin where they had last left their stockpiled supplies.

"Well everything is still here. All we need is our ammunitions and data collectors. Right'eye also needs to check out the cockpit for any new transmissions," stated Tens, as he went over to start grabbing supplies.

Tens noticed, or rather felt a tremendous amount of anxiety if not apprehension in the cabin. He couldn't really explain it, other than that it wasn't his own feelings rather the others. He made a mental note to talk with Right'eye about this later.

"Can we help?" offered Trevor. Tens couldn't help but smile, what an opportunity.

"Yeah you guys can start by grabbing those boxes there and filling them up with those cartridges and ration containers," replied Tens pointing to the respective containers. While the Marines were distracted Tens gave his nod just as Riot came back from the Refresher.

Jumps, Riot and Right'eye slowly worked their way into place behind the Marines. However, Tens was having second thoughts, this was low, almost as bad as what a Separatist might do. That thought made him hesitate to give the go ahead. Maybe these people could defend themselves; it certainly appeared that they had the firepower. Besides, how could he do this to a group of Marines that had just lost everyone in their squad?

As all of his _vod_ looked at him for the final call, he gave a slight shake of his head, his signal to call off the attack. Something defiantly didn't feel right about what they were going to do. He just couldn't do it, if he was going to die, he'd rather die helping these people. Besides running away wasn't something a clone trooper did, that specific talent is reserved for the lowest of the low, cowards and liars and, and, General Grievous.

With a slight smirk on his face at his thoughts and a new determination Tens turned to issue his new orders. However, a sudden incoming transmission sound emanated from the cockpit getting all of their attention. All of them, raced into the cockpit, followed closely by the Marines. Right'eye quickly pressed the receiver controls, and up on the ships Holo-projector appeared a uniformed man in a Star Destroyer's bridge.

"This is Admiral Yularen of the Resolute calling Consular Cruiser 34B-1. Is there anyone there?"

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**A/N: **Please, if there is anything I got wrong for the Marines **Let Me Know!** I really do want to try my best at representing them. Also will update 'Who am I?' soon.


	10. Chapter 10 First Battle for Earth

_"Humans, they make up the majority of the known galaxies populace, but little is known of their origin. Many human cultures and races have flourished throughout the galaxy over the past 25,000 years. Some, such as the people of Alderaan or Mandalore, have existed for so many countless generations that some consider their homeworlds to be where they originated. While this is an impossibility due to the single fact that all humans in the galaxy are genetically related to some degree, it does bring up the intriguing question of where their original homeworld is." - Excerpt from Jedi Master __Qui_-_Gon Jinn's _Holocron, Jedi Archives. 

**Location: Hyperspace, heading to uncharted space, far Outer-Rim, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Captain Rex sat patiently waiting in the Resolute's Bridge. It seemed like so much of his ten-year life consisted of waiting. If he wasn't fighting or planning he was waiting, well and thinking. He supposed that's what a life of a clone is. So he sat and counted down their arrival to the uncharted system on his chrono. He and the Admiral had the ship fully prepared; all eight DBY-827 heavy dual turbolaser turrets and all fifty-two turbolaser's were ready to fire at a moments notice. They even had the proton torpedoes ready for launch. However space is a very large place, even if they were following the Separatist exact Hyperspace route, he doubted they would run immediately into them when they came out.

To Rex, something was starting to seem odd about this mission. Why would command send them **and** the Negotiator all the way out here? They were almost to the galaxy's edge, he wasn't even sure if anyone laid claim to this part of space. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Why are they getting detoured to find some cowards who fled a fight? Oh, wait, someone he knew suggested they go after the Consular Cruiser, the _di'kut_.

Still though, there weren't any diplomats onboard, and even if the captain was onboard he shouldn't have left. Which brings up another question, why did they flee to uncharted space, any pilot worth a credit chip would've returned to Republic controlled space. He was really starting to regret agreeing to this _kriffing_ detour. But then again, Rex thought that perhaps this was the right thing to do, someone out here needed to be rescued, and they are part of the Republic, so maybe it isn't a bad idea after all.

Deciding there were too many unanswerable questions in his head, Rex thought instead about where they were originally going to go, Christophsis. That's where both the Resolute and possibly the Negotiator were going to head depending on what command had in mind. Christophsis is where an entire weeks worth of meticulous planning had gone. Maybe command thought this was just a quick foray before they went back to their original plans. Military intelligence, yeah right. Rex smirked at his thoughts, just as the Admiral turned around to face him.

"Captain Rex, we will be leaving Hyperspace in thirty seconds, do you want to inform the General?" asked Admiral Yularen.

Rex glanced back at his chrono. It showed twenty-eight standard seconds until arrival. Well, so much for waiting, guess where here.

"Yeah, Admiral, I'll let him know." Rex put on his helmet with a slight click and hiss then he turned on his Comms. Rex had a feeling though that his General already knew that they were about to arrive.

**Location: Near the Solar System, far Outer-Rim, formerly uncharted star system, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

The first Separatist Battle Cruiser patiently monitored their companions advance through the nearby star system. All was going well; they were close to retrieving a Republic Consular Cruiser which had fled their last battle. According to CIS Intelligence, the ship was carrying representatives of the Republic Senate. Recovering them was deemed a low risk, high priority mission.

There was only one issue, no matter how hard they tried the Battle Cruiser could not contact CIS Fleet Command. They weren't even receiving signals from HoloNet this far out. For the first Cruiser's droid commander this was mixed news, if they can't get orders, then the Republic ship can't call for help. But if something unexpected happens, neither could the Separatist's.

Unfortunately for the Separatist and the Republic, unexpected things tend to occur in a galaxy at war.

With no warning the Resolute dropped out of Hyperspace right in front of the Separatist Battle Cruiser. After a brief few seconds both ships, mostly the Resolute, took immediate evasive maneuvers to avoid a head-on collision. The Resolute went in alongside the Separatist Cruiser and immediately began firing its array of turbolaser's and proton torpedoes on the less prepared ship.

"Admiral, fire everything we've got at that ship!" ordered Anakin through his com-link. He and an entire squadron of starfighter's just cleared the Resolute's Ventral Hangerbay doors.

"We are General Skywalker!... Wait, looks like their sending out a welcoming party for you. We'll focus on their engines just keep those Vulture droids off ours!" answered Admiral Yularen.

"We're working on it..." replied Anakin before being cut off by the oncoming droids. Two of his squad pilots got hit hard; the first pilot was able to return back into the Resolute, albeit a crash landing. The second lost control and slammed into the side of the Separatist Cruiser. Anakin hated losing men, especially some of his most skilled pilots.

Volleys of turbolaser fire and proton torpedoes lit up both ships in blue and red. Swarms of vulture droids chased the Five O First's most skilled pilots including Anakin, though not without heavy losses of their own.

The battle was quickly turning in favor of the Separatists. After the Resolute's initial surprise attack, the droid commander immediately started a large counter attack. Orders to speed up the capture of the Consular Cruiser were also sent to the second Separatist Cruiser which immediately accelerated at full speed towards the unknown planet on which the Republic Cruiser had landed.

"Well, so much for the Negotiator arriving first. Admiral, is there any sign of her? I hate to admit it but we could really use the help. Things aren't going to well out here," asked Anakin as one more of his starfighter's was lost.

"No General, no sign of her, though she might appear any minute." After a brief pause the Admiral continued, "If this battle doesn't go as planned should we try to contact our Cruiser that fled here? Our long-range sensors show it landed on the third planet from this systems star. We're in communications range."

"Yeah, go ahead Admiral; contact them, whoever they are, when you get a chance. If the sepp's think their worth fighting for, then we better give them a fight they won't forget."

The battle continued on for several more minutes during which the Admiral was very busy. Damage from the proton torpedoes the Resolute had initially launched were starting to take effect. Just as the tide was once again turning in the favor of the Republic, the Negotiator dropped out of Hyperspace right in front of the two battling ships.

All three ships, again, took evasive maneuvers. The many starfighter's caught in between also scattered. Moving straight towards the two ships, the Negotiator turned itself so its topside, the side with the biggest guns was facing the Separatist ship as they passed one another. A dangerous move considering that this fully exposed the Negotiators bridges to direct enemy fire. The Negotiator then proceeded to open fire. Meanwhile the Resolute accelerated forward in a dive, continuing to fire while coming underneath the sepp's ship. Both the Resolute and Negotiator's combined firepower was starting to tear the Battle Cruiser to pieces.

The droid commander knew his chances well, they weren't good against two fully armed Star Destroyers. He proceeded with a CIS time-honored tradition, retreat. He typed in the coördinates for Separatist controlled space and then hit the Hyperdrive controls. Before the Resolute or Negotiator could do anything more, in a quick flash of light the ship went to Hyperspace.

As both ships leveled out, Admiral Yularen patched though to General Kenobi and Anakin's starfighter using the Resolute's Holo-projector.

"General Kenobi, glad you could join us," said Admiral Yularen flickering into view in full height on the Negotiator's bridge.

"Admiral, I must say it's good to see the Resolute's been keeping busy, as always. I don't think I've ever seen such an interesting reception for our ship as the one you two managed to throw together... Anakin, was that your starfighter that buzzed our bridge just now?"

"Sorry Master, but I have to keep you awake, since you didn't arrive here first."

"Anakin, how many times have I told you to never do that! Its reckless piloting like that which will get you and others killed… Besides, we were having problems getting our Hyperdrive going at full speed, or else we **would** have been here first. Now, Admiral, what's our situation with the missing consular cruiser?"

"Well, first off General, as to our friends who just left, I don't think it is wise to follow them. They went deep into Separatist controlled space. I thought that we had disabled their Hyperdrive, but apparently they had a secondary system. Now as to the Consular Cruiser, our long-range sensors show there's one more Separatist Battle Cruiser in the system. It's heading at breakneck speed towards the third planet from this star. That's the planet on which our Cruiser landed. Do you want to pursue them, General? They'll reach the planet before us, but our engines are faster."

"Well, at least we get to have some fun too. What's on the planet? Can our sensors detect any life forms?" asked Obi-wan.

"Yes General, the readings are showing levels of life almost comparable to Coruscant. They're off the charts. I'm not sure if it's intelligent or not... Wait," Admiral Yularen stopped and turned from the Holo-projection. A clone officer had just come up to talk with him.

Meanwhile Commander Cody stood behind Obi-wan waiting to help or receive orders. While Admiral Yularen was talking with his officer, Cody noticed Captain Rex standing behind him in the Holo-projection. He gave Rex a quick nod of his head in acknowledgment. Receiving one in return, he smiled; it was good to see his brother again.

After a moment more the Admiral continued, "My Communications Officer Dace, just informed me that there are high levels of robotics. He also said he was able to pick up on radio frequencies emanating from the planet. They aren't frequencies commonly used by the Republic or anyone else for that matter but they do point towards intelligent life."

"Very well Admiral. Set a course for this planet at full speed, we'll do the same. Let's see what we find. And Anakin, were going to have a talk later about your flying, preferably before someone gets killed."

"Of coarse Master," answered Anakin slowly in an all too easily noticed annoyed tone. With that, Obi-wan ended the transmission and turned from the Holo-projector.

"Cody, I need you to get me all the information you can on this sector of space, and on this star system. It can't be that such a large amount of life has gone completely unnoticed for so long. Also, have our Comms Officer Runt work with Dace to find out what those transmissions are. While you do that, I am going to contact the Jedi Council to discuss this matter further."

"Yes sir, It'll be done right away," replied Cody.

"Runt, you heard the General," said Cody with a nod, then he left for the ships navigation and information's room.

Obi-wan walked over to Runt, who was working diligently at his station on his new cross-ship assignment with Dace. Obi-wan felt a twinge of guilt for what happened to this clone. He was shorter than his brothers, not by much but Obi-wan understood how he got his name.

Runt had lost his right hand and his entire left arm in an explosion which Obi-wan should have prevented. His entire squad got killed in the explosion and Runt would have as well had it not been for the quick dust-off provided by the Negotiator. Obi-wan had insisted on keeping him around instead of being shipped out to Coruscant. He was one of the best Communication Officers Obi-wan had ever seen, and with the arrival of his new prosthetics last week, he had only improved in his abilities.

"Runt, I need you to secure me a link to the Jedi Council. Can you do that?" Runt turned around in his chair, surprised, and then he shook his head, "No sir." Ever since the explosion Runt said little, even to his brothers. He had been, to say the least, really close to his squad. For him, everything said now was on a need to know basis.

Obi-wan was surprised, he had begun to believe there wasn't a place in the galaxy this clone couldn't communicate with. "Why not?"

After a brief sigh Runt reluctantly explained, "Sir, we're simply too far out to get any signals from High Command, let alone the Jedi Council. I can't even pick up the HoloNet. The only signals out here are coming from that planet, a few hundred probes, and the Separatist ship. We're out of contact with everyone for the time being, sir."

"Oh, that's not good, that's not good at all... Thank you Runt, continue on with your work." That wasn't news Obi-wan expected to receive, the sooner they got this mission over with, he thought, the better.

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-ECUCNA Secure UN Meeting Chambers, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

The United Nations Military General didn't like what he was hearing. The President must have gone crazy, or maybe these aliens had control of her. Either way he wasn't going to let them do this.

"Listen, with all due respect Madam President, we can't trust these, these clones. We don't even know what they're capable of. And now you're telling me you want to tell them about the movies and other information we think we might know about them? We don't even know if this so-called Republic is the right side to ally ourselves with. If they are indeed who we think they are then we know they're not to be trusted, remember what they do to the Jedi! Look, I would rather ally myself with a group who uses robots to fight than a group who forces clones to fight for them!"

He was not pleased at all, he found himself lowering his body back down in his seat, sweat beading on his head. To his surprise, both Lisa and James looked rather amused at his raucous state. Then the President returned to her normal serious state.

"Don't lecture me General, on the merits of trust and morality. If I recall, only a few years ago you led a program in DARPA whose sole purpose was to create human clones for military use! Not to mention the whole China fiasco that your precious programs caused. And you talk about trust General as if it was second nature to you..."

After a brief pause, whilst she calmed herself down, the President continued.

"No, I think the Republic, if it exists, be allowed the opportunity to present themselves diplomatically. As to what I am going to tell our clone visitors, I think not telling them would do more harm than good. It will be their decision, theirs alone as to whether or not they tell their superiors or the Jedi…if they exist. What they do with the information will either prove them trustworthy or not. As to allying ourselves with the Separatists, may I remind you that they're the ones whose very large ship is barreling down right at us. We will not ally ourselves with a group who threaten our very existence. I believe what the Clone Tens said about them and I think it's wise for you to believe him as well. However, airing on the side of caution General I recommend that in either case we should prepare."

The General sat; face white in anger, glaring at her. He didn't like being threatened or corrected. Especially since she brought up his highly classified programs that had gone to the wayside.

"If I may interrupt for just a second," interrupted James, looking up from his iPhone 30 xi.

"We just received the DNA tests back for all four of the clones. The lab confirms that they are completely identical, except for a few very minor variations of some genes," he added looking apprehensively between the President and the General.

"Thank you, James. At least that confirms what we thought, and that they weren't lying to us," stated Lisa, looking back with a smirk to the General.

After a moment's pause the General decided now was the best time to tread diplomatically.

"Very well then, Madam President. We will ready our forces; hopefully your newfound friends can give out good tactical advice on our enemy, because short of using ICBM's against them, our chances don't look so good." With that he got up and made for the exit.

The President let him go, looking back to James amused she added, "I do believe we made him angry… It's a shame it took a probable alien invasion to do it. I've tried for years to get back at him for what he did in China."

"Are you sure we should tell all of them, or show them. I'd hate to admit it but the General could be correct. What if they betray us like they betray the Jedi? We've hardly met and that, need I remind you, didn't go over very well. Can we really trust them?" asked James. He sighed then took a sip of coffee, the strongest black coffee he could find in the ISA store-room.

"James, we are talking about events that have yet come to pass. For all we know what happens in the movies won't happen or didn't happen. Or maybe the events described are different, I don't know. Let's play it safe then, we'll just tell Tens, the others won't know, that way he won't get pressured by the others. How does that sound?"

"Fine that sounds reasonable enough... I still can't believe this is happening, I mean who'd have known? I certainly, in my wildest dreams couldn't have….." but before he could finish his sentence an ISA Marine ran in taking off his helmet and saluted the two. Panting and out of breath, the man took a moment to compose himself before speaking.

"Mrs. President, Mr. Vice President you're needed at once in the main command center. The situation has changed. Two more ships have been spotted in the outer solar system, and the Separatist ship has doubled its speed. Also, Delta Squad with the clones report that one of those new ships has just made contact with their ship. We're patching that live feed through to command as we speak." The last of the Marines update was spoke as they all ran towards the command center.

###

**Story Note: **I've updated the earlier chapters to show place and time. I also changed the place in which Tens star destroyer was destroyed. That's now the Churba System in the Mid Rim, a Republic held system. It also just so happens to be the location of the homeworld for the Togruta.

******Authors Note: **Well, I suppose I should apologize for not updating sooner. To compensate, I've made this chapter the longest by far, good old chapter ten. For some odd reason Tens really enjoyed this chapter. Also added some location and time info, updated earlier chapters too. Please Review, and as always, I do not own star wars... Hopefully I did the Canon Characters justice... Oh by the way, it's summer! Chapters should be added more often now. :)

Also, I really can't wait until they come out with the iPhone 30 xi. I hear that it has a built-in 3D printer, a holographic imaging projector and a scent maker, also has anti theft in the form of built-in pepper spray and a Taser. Just don't press the big red button, I can't wait...


	11. Chapter 11 Tens Report

"_It is commonly believed that Humans originated from the Core worlds, possibly on Notron, but there are no worlds here that have proof of original human inhabitation. For this reason many theories have been proposed to account for this lack of an origin. Some suggest that humans fled their planet as it was destroyed by a dying star. Others go as far to believe that humans are from extra-galactic space. I however agree with one other theory and it is intertwined with the very founding of the Republic."- Excerpt from Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn's Holocron, Jedi Archives_

**Location: Office of the Supreme Chancellor, Galactic City, Coruscant, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

It was another perfect sunset, one of Palpatine's favorites. Dark orange fading into blood-red with a small electrical storm in the distance, set against one of Coruscant's most polluted industrial sectors. Scanning across in the other direction was the darkening heart of Galactic City, its skyways bristling with traffic and its highest buildings cloaked in artificial light.

Yes, the view from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's office was one that so many would die for... and, he thought, so many would. All of his plans were coming together perfectly. Nothing would stop the Sith now. However he couldn't help but to frown slightly while looking towards the Jedi Temple. The Jedi, he thought, their weakness is their blind faith in themselves and in the force, and their faith in those they lead into battle. But that would soon be their downfall, they wouldn't expect anything, but some would live just long enough to see how far they'd fallen.

At that moment something changed in the force, Palpatine could feel the ripple. It made him uneasy, it didn't feel right, and for once the Sith couldn't figure out what was causing it. That made his frown worsen into a sneer. It was the Jedi, it had to be. Something had changed and not for the better, for him at least.

Just then, an aide walked in and informed him that Jedi Master Mace Windu was here to see him. Mildly surprised he hadn't sensed the Jedi coming, Palpatine ushered the aide to bring him in.

In strode Master Windu, his Jedi robes trailing behind him. "Your Excellency," stated Mace, bowing slightly in respect. The Chancellor couldn't help but think that this was how the Jedi should always be, bowing before the Sith.

"It's always a pleasure to see you again Master Windu. Please have a seat, what can I do for you?" asked Palpatine cordially, sitting down at his desk.

"I have come to inform you that we have lost contact with two of our Star Destroyers, in the far Outer-rim. There have been repeated tries to raise them but none have been received." Mace sat down in front of the Chancellors desk; even he stole a quick look to admire the view from the Chancellor's office.

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that, this is the first I have heard of the situation... Are there any Jedi onboard?" asked Palpatine casually.

Of course the Chancellor knew all about the two Destroyers, and that two Jedi were on them. He'd been the one to issue the okay for their little side mission at GAR High Command. If there was one thing the Sith didn't like, it was not knowing about things. The section of space they'd headed for was unknown, even to Palpatine. He was genuinely interested in what they would find.

However, the only way he was able to get the Resolute and Negotiator out there was to have Count Dooku order the two Separatist Battle Cruisers to follow a fleeing Consular Cruiser. He'd told Dooku that Senate Representatives were onboard. In actuality though, Palpatine had no clue who was in the Consular Cruiser, or why they had fled the ambush. He was just happy that the coincidence had fit in so well with his plans.

"Yes, Jedi Master's Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are onboard the ships the Resolute and the Negotiator. Both the entire 501st and the 212th legions are on as well. We are planning on sending out a rescue party to look for them, in case of a Separatist ambush. However, the council wanted to know what you thought of the situation," answered Mace.

"Well, those two legions are the finest in the Grand Army of the Republic, are they not? And the tactical knowledge of Master Kenobi and young Skywalker are second to none. I think they can fend for themselves for a while, we are talking about two fully armed Star Destroyers, not some lost Consular Cruiser."

Palpatine laughed a little, downplaying the seriousness of the situation, before continuing, "No, if they do not call in within the next day then I will personally see to it that a rescue party is sent out at once." With that assurance he got up, along with Mace.

Walking with the Chancellor to the door Mace replied, "Very well then, I will inform the Jedi Council about your offer, I am sure they will find it... most assuring. We will keep you up to date on any changes in the situation when they occur."

"I am glad to be of assistance, as always, it's been a pleasure seeing you again Master Windu, and I am sure that Masters Kenobi and Skywalker will be just fine" finished Chancellor Palpatine as they neared the door passing his Bas-Relief of the Great Hyperspace War.

"Your Excellency," said Mace then with another slight bow, he exited the office.

Palpatine couldn't help but crack an evil smile and laugh when the Jedi left. Lies and deceit were the ways of the Sith. Oh how he would enjoy his victory over them, he could already feel it.

###

Mace Windu strode out of the lift at the bottom of the building. Something didn't feel right. Something in his conversation with the Chancellor was bugging him. He pondered over it as he got into a nearby transport for the Jedi Temple. It was only when he arrived and was walking into the Temple that he realized exactly what was bothering him so much.

Was it coincidence that the Chancellor had mentioned a missing Consular Cruiser? He was sure that he hadn't told the Chancellor why the two Star Destroyers had gone that far out. But there was no such thing as coincidence in the force. No, it seemed that the Chancellor might know more about the situation then he was letting on, and that worried Mace. With that last thought, he strode into the Turbo-lift to the Jedi Council, having more to report on now than just the Chancellor's shallow assurances.

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-ECUCNA, Ground to Air Rapid Deployment Hanger, ISA-USAF Operations Division, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

"This is Admiral Yularen of the Resolute calling Consular Cruiser 34B-1. Is there anyone there? Repeat, is anyone receiving?" The Admiral flickered to view on the Consular Cruiser's Holo-projector, his arms crossed behind his back, standing squarely in the Resolute's Bridge.

"Right'eye, why aren't they receiving our Holo-projection, the Admiral should be able to see us!" Tens asked frantically. They'd sent the _kriffin_ 501st after them! He couldn't believe it.

"Umm, hold on a sec... Here we are!" exclaimed Right'eye reaching down to press a button.

The Admiral flinched slightly as their Holo-projection flickered on in front of him. He seemed surprised to see four clones in the cockpit of the Consular Cruiser.

"We read you sir; this is CT-20-1010 of the 442nd Siege Battalion. This is CT-23-0151 and those two are CT-23-1547 & CT-23-1549 who are also from 442nd. Boy are we glad to see you!" stated Tens while pointing out his fellow brothers for the Admiral. They all stood at attention in the cockpit. It wasn't quite necessary but Tens decided they would represent the 442nd professionally.

"Yes, well gentlemen, at ease... I'm glad to see that you and your men made it CT-20-1010," he appeared to expect more people, "Is there anyone else with you that fled the Churba system?"

"Umm, no sir, there's no one else with us that fled." Great, Tens thought, it looked like they were all going to get in trouble. Yularen's response was proof enough of that.

"I see... More importantly CT-20-1010, **Why** did you flee the battle, and in a Consular Cruiser? I shouldn't have to remind you that what you've done is against several of the GAR's Standard Operating Procedures, you could be Court Marshaled for this too..." Tens interrupted the Admiral before he could finish, another mistake perhaps. He wanted to explain why they had left.

"I am sorry sir, but during evacuation we all missed our escape pods; the Consular Cruiser was our only hope of escape from our Destroyer. As to why we fled the battle, I assure you sir, it wasn't completely intentional... I'd like to say that our Hyperspace controls malfunctioned but," looking at Riot, Tens continued, "I can't sir, just someone with bad piloting skills. We then suffered a serious coolant leak and couldn't risk returning to Republic space."

The Admiral followed Tens gaze and was now looking at Riot who seemed to shrink back behind Jumps.

"Well, I suppose accidents do occur sometimes..." continued Yularen before stopping again. General Skywalker himself stepped into the Holo-projector view looking first at the clones then back to the Admiral. It was the kind of look that said, _'that's it, that's all we came out here for, is four shabla clones'_. Well that's what Tens thought the look said if looks could speak. Tens and his brothers once again stood at attention.

"At ease troopers! I see you're already acquainted with the Admiral so I'll cut to the chase. Our scanners are picking up a large amount of life on the planet you four are on. Can you confirm this and what kind of life are we talking about?"

Tens looked back to the Marines, they were right behind them, but were out of range of the Holo-projector. All of them except Trevor had their helmets on. Trevor was looking in wonderment at the Holograph. Tens wondered what they're told to do in a situation like this.

"Well sir, there is life here but I should, uh I'll be right back, sir," replied Tens. Both the General and Admiral appeared rather amused by his sudden departure. Tens quickly exited the cockpit, coming face to face with Sgt. Trevor.

"Look Trevor, I'm obligated to make a full report on this planet, including all information that I have received so far. However, I think your President would want to make a more official meeting between you and the Republic. So, how do you want to approach this? I trust you know what to do. Either way I still have to tell them." Tens cast an anxious look to the Holo-projector then back. He didn't like keeping the General and Admiral waiting.

"Trust? Really, you trust us? I find that hard to believe coming from a clone that was planning on killing off me and my team to get off planet!" replied Trevor bitterly. The revelation of Trevor's knowledge visibly surprised Tens.

"Oh, you thought I didn't know? Connor overheard your plan back at the lifts. I saw you all getting into position in this ship; if it wasn't for this little distraction I would've ordered my squad to kill you four. Now tell me, why should I trust you?" asked Trevor angrily.

Luckily he'd kept his voice down, but that didn't distract Tens from the fact that Trevor's gun was pushing into his lower chest plates. The rest of Delta Squad raised their guns too, pointing at the backs of his brothers in the cockpit. Right'eye was evidently covering for Tens in his absence. Riot and Jumps were distracted by that too, so none of his brothers even knew about the small confrontation going on behind them. If they had worn their helmets than their wrap around vision from their HUD's would have warned them but that wasn't the case.

Tens really wished Trevor would've brought this up earlier. Issuing a sigh, and putting his trust in the Marine, Tens conceded.

"Okay, it's true. I made a bad decision. It's not that I don't trust you and your squad it's just I thought that if we left, the seppies would too, giving your planet some time. I admit I was a _di'kut_. I decided though, before the transmission, to stay here and I called off the ambush. I never was planning on killing you or your men, and er, woman. Just incapacitate, there is a difference... If there is anyone to blame it's me, just leave my brothers out of it..." replied Tens quietly, still looking Trevor in the eye. He then continued, "For now we should discuss this later at a more appropriate time."

Trevor looked at Tens and then to his brothers. Looking back to his squad he raised his arm in front of his face, palm out, and signaled cease-fire. He would've verbally given the order but he didn't want Tens brothers to hear, just in case. The others immediately brought their weapons down, and to their sides. Trevor also lowered his gun from Tens chest.

"Very well, we have more important matters at hand anyways," replied Trevor coolly. Then leaning in closer, in a harsh but barely audible whisper he continued, "I'm letting this slide for now _clone_, but if you even hint at hurting my squad or anyone else here again, including the President, I will not hesitate to kill you or your brothers. Do you understand?"

Tens understood all too well how far one would go for his or her safety, and the safety of those who they cared for. Plus, Trevor was doing his job, just like Tens, though Tens didn't particularly like the tone in which Trevor had said 'clone'.

"Yeah Trevor, I do and I am sorry... Anyways, let's introduce you to General Skywalker and the Admiral, then hopefully we can set up a meeting between them and you're President," replied Tens slowly, not sure if the Marine was going to stay angry.

"Might as well. By the way I haven't a clue what _di'kut_ means but I can guess... Hold on a sec, Tens, did you say General Skywalker? As in Anakin Skywalker?" Now it was Trevor's turn to look surprised. Tens was glad to see the Marine lightening back up, compared with his serious demeanor he displayed just seconds earlier.

"Yes, but we address him as General Skywalker or just General... Wait! How did you know his full name?" asked Tens incredulously.

"Oh, uhh yeah, Tens remember our conversation?" he asked, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"We'll discuss it later." Tens wasn't satisfied with that answer and Trevor knew it. With another quick smile and a sarcastic laugh, Trevor followed an annoyed Tens into the cockpit.

**Location: The Negotiator heading for the planet Earth, full speed, far Outer-Rim, 41 days after Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Obi-wan and Commander Cody sat at a table in the Commander's office onboard the Negotiator. The table was filled with flimsy sheets and data pads containing all the information Cody could unearth for this sector of space. There was nothing to go on. The Star System was far from any major, let alone minor Hyperspace Routes, and it seemed no one had really cared to venture out here until now. The only people who might have ventured this far out, Obi-wan supposed, were pirates and smugglers.

Both Cody and Obi-wan were watching a miniature split Holo-projection on the table. It showed both the Admiral and Anakin aboard the Resolute and the four clones on the Consular Cruiser. One of the clones had disappeared from view, CT-20-1010. He was of interest to Obi-wan. Something was different about him, something other than his seemingly natural ability to lead. Well, seeing what they had gotten themselves into, maybe he'd need a bit of work on that.

Suddenly, CT-20-1010 reappeared with a guest, a human to be precise. He was clad in black armor similar to a clone commando but less bulky. He also carried gun with him, a projectile weapon of some sort. Obi-wan leaned forward to get a better view, resting his head on his hands in contemplation. He was surprised to say the least. He hadn't expected to find a human inhabited world out here, especially on an uncharted star system. In the Holo-projection CT-20-1010 started talking again.

"General, Admiral, this is Marine Sergeant Trevor Kelly. He's from Earth and wants to set up a meeting between you and their President."

Earth, Obi-wan thought, an interesting name for a planet. He then noticed, with some amusement, the surprise both the Admiral and Anakin showed at seeing that this planet is inhabited by Humans.

"Hello General Skywalker and Admiral Yularen. As Tens said, I'd like to set up a meeting with you either in person when you arrive on Earth or by this, er, Holo-projection," Trevor stated nervously. He wanted to do this right; the only problem was that this had never been done before.

"You're Human? And you speak basic?" asked Anakin suspiciously.

"Yes I'm Human, and I speak English, if that's what you mean by 'basic'," replied Trevor annoyed slightly by how obvious that information was.

"Who exactly do you represent, Sergeant Trevor?" asked the Admiral, recovering quickly from the surprise at seeing Humans here.

"I am a Marine with the United States Military. We now have, as I am sure you are aware, a possible enemy ship barreling towards our planet. Tens here said it was a Separatist Battle Cruiser. If that is the case and they are not friendly, we may need help, or at the very least some advice. I was told to tell you that our President would like to ally ourselves with the Republic if you can provide help."

Trevor knew the President had a plan; they were in a larger universe than they could have ever imagined and one that was at war. She wanted the Earth to be on the winning side and she had the information to create that winning side. Trevor knew her beliefs in ethics so it didn't surprise him as to the side she had chosen. He just wished that the President didn't put so much trust in the clones. Sure they seemed nice enough, but if the movies were any indication they are dangerous and not to be trusted. Trevor's own experiences with the UN's secret cloning program showed how true that was.

"Our two Star Destroyers are fast but they're not that fast. There were two Separatist Battle Cruisers in your star system, but our star Destroyers just chased one away. For whatever reason they really want the Consular Cruiser, so the other one doubled its speed toward you. We will offer what assistance we can, but only when we arrive. No matter what though, they will arrive first," offered the Admiral.

"Very well. I will inform our President and we'll try to patch this signal through to a more secure site on Earth. Thank you for your consideration and possible support. I am sure that Tens will keep in contact with you so that we may coordinate our response to the Separatist threat." With that Trevor left the projector followed quickly by Tens. Tens left CT-23-0151 to continue communication with the Resolute.

Obi-wan couldn't decide what to think. The Republic had the advantage over these Earthlings; they aren't a threat so allying with them wouldn't be an issue. But what will the Separatist do? Surely they knew of the life readings before the one fled. They would surely return to investigate, and when they do, if the Republic allies itself with Earth, the Republic would end up having to defend the planet. Even this early in the war they couldn't afford the extra security.

"Cody, when they patch through the communications, I want us to be there for the meeting. I trust Anakin, but this is a very important meeting. Our scanners indicate that the population of this planet is likely in the billions, even a small Separatist invasion is likely to cause mass panic, they may need a lot of help. Prepare the men for rapid deployment to the surface for when we arrive. Make sure Captain Rex does the same, and tell Runt to jam the Separatist communications, just in case."

"Very well general. I will make sure Rex knows as well. Are we expecting to fight in populated areas, sir?" replied Cody. He was excited; they were finally going to see some ground action.

"Yes Cody, if they do land droids, we will be deploying to the ground, and they probably will deploy in an urban area. Just make sure to do a better job than the 501st. I'm tired of seeing Anakin beat us in droid fatality rates."

Cody just smiled, if there was one thing he would enjoy it was a challenge and showing the 501st who the better legion was.

###

**A/N:** Well, I really do hope that you enjoyed this very late update. Sorry about that, been a lot busier summer than I would like but not much I can do about that. Never fear though, more updates ahead. I also suggest for Palpatine's POV playing the Sith theme in the background, sets the mood rather well. :) As always suggestions and reviews are highly valued so please let me know! And just because, I do not own Star Wars or for that matter the Clone Wars. Have a good summer by the way.


	12. Chapter 12 Delta's History

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-ECUCNA, Ground to Air Rapid Deployment Hanger, ISA/USAF Operations Division, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Trevor was relieved that his talk with the Admiral and General worked out so well. It was shorter than he'd expected but he wasn't the one that should be talking to them. No, that job belonged to the President and the UN Chairman. They were the diplomats, they would do what was best for his planet, he hoped.

Trevor had just ordered a group of technicians to help Right'eye patch the Holo-communication through to command. No one was sure if it could be done, it was after all a different way of communicating. Hopefully the techies could manage it.

Trevor was starting to wonder how much from the Star Wars movies and television series was correct. He couldn't believe that he had just talked with Anakin Skywalker. He looked and sounded almost exactly like what Trevor could remember from the movies. For that matter so did the clones. How this was possible was beyond Trevor. The coincidence of thirty year old movies becoming a reality made Trevor suspicious and to some degree nervous. He knew how they went and the time period they were currently in didn't end so well for the Jedi.

Currently, Trevor sat outside the Consular Cruiser on a crate of ammo. He needed a break; the confinement inside the ship had bugged him. Tens quickly followed him out but was staying near the boarding ramp. He looked unsure, split between going back inside and coming over to join him. Tens hadn't spoken a word to him since their discussion; Trevor could understand why. He hadn't been the most receptive Marine in the world or friendliest for that matter but he had every reason to be. His information told him that Tens was a threat to his squad and he wasn't going to let another clone finish them off.

Thinking this over brought up painful memories of why he'd lost three-fourths of his squad. Delta squad had been composed of four Fireteams with four men in each. Because Delta was slightly larger it had been assigned both a Sergeant and Corporal to look over the squad. But Delta was also selected to take part in a secret UN/US program; Project Genesis. Delta was given a clone who was ranked Corporal and second in command for the squad. He didn't have a name rather a unit designation, C-42. In other squads these clones were given different positions or separate jobs that they had been specifically made for.

Only a hundred or so clones were made, their DNA changed so they would age faster. It took only fifteen years for them to be ready for service, biologically they were eighteen. Just quick enough for them to be financially viable. The first batch was a surprising success, excelling at everything from endurance to fitness, memory and intelligence. But they were psychologically challenged. Never having a proper family they tended to bond to the technicians who raised them. Plus the army wasn't the best at nurturing anything, period. Luckily for the program, by the time the clones were ready for combat, they'd barely passed their final psych. exams.

Trevor remembered how Delta had treated their new companion. Distrust, suspicion, hate and anger were just a few of the more commonly shared feelings in the squad. It was Trevor's view that since the clone came from a test-tube and not a womb it wasn't worth as much as the rest of his squad; in essence it was a product not a person. Trevor encouraged the rest of his squad to view the clone in the same way.

The first weeks were harsh. Unit C-42 tried ending his own life due to the squad's animosity towards him. It was Trevor who had stumbled upon the clone just as he attempted it. Thankfully Trevor stopped C-42 just in time. That event was a turning point and eventually Delta started seeing the clone as a fellow human rather than just a lab experiment. Ironically it was Trevor who decided that he needed a name. Tye was chosen as his first name and his designating would be his last.

Over the next six months Delta squad became rather close with Tye. They taught him about things he hadn't learned in training, which was a lot. Due to Tye's lack of a childhood or for that matter a family he became bonded to the squad and in particular to Sgt. Trevor. By this time Trevor viewed Tye as a young brother; he was only three years older than the clone biologically. He trusted the clone unconditionally and Tye in turn began to fill in his role as second in command.

However everything came to a head two weeks ago. Delta was deployed overseas to Lhasa to aid in a UN backed popular uprising against the Chinese Government. It was one of the multiple little proxy wars occurring in Asia against the Chinese and UN allied Nations. The second cold war as it was called. No one on either side publically admitted to their role in the conflicts but it was clear to everyone in the world what was happening.

The ironic part was that trade between the UN member nations and China didn't stop, no one wanted to face the economic consequences and China was desperate for food. Their problems started when their over-fertilized over-used crop lands stopped producing food due to a large drought in the early 2020's. The largest famine in Chinese history soon followed halving China's population. By 2030 the government was weak and was desperately trying to stay in control of its people. In 2034 the power struggle began between the UN and China as UN member nations quickly replaced China as the main trading partners for China's former allies. Not wanting to give up its newfound economic prowess to a once again strengthening Chinese government, the UN started backing popular uprisings and regional wars against China. The hope was to keep China from ever becoming a superpower again.

So to Lhasa Delta Squad went. The thin air and freezing nights took a toll on the UN troops who were not used to fighting at such high altitudes. The Chinese were tough to fight and heavy loses were the result. But Delta was the exception. Under Trevor's leadership they all managed to return from each confrontation alive. It was at the UN led attack on the Chinese held pass of Pomdo that Delta Squad ran out of luck.

Pomdo Pass was a secondary northern route to reach the strategic Chinese held city of Nagqu. Situated from north to south at just under 16,000 ft. in elevation, Pomdo pass was located between two 18,000 ft. peaks. Both slopes leading up either side of the pass were covered in a thick slushy snow. This forced the assault straight up the steep southern side of the pass to where the Chinese army had set up barricades. A former road switch-backed up the pass that was now covered with IED's, coiled barbed wire, and multiple trenches with Chinese soldiers waiting in them. There was no surveillance as drones faltered at such altitudes and temperatures and the ones that did work were constantly shot down. Satellite surveillance was out of the question because of thick cloud cover.

So before the main UN and Tibetan fighting force was to advance, two other scouting Fireteams were sent out with Delta covering. They were to asses the condition of the pass and to see how big of an army was awaiting them.

The clouds put forth a numbingly cold rain. To make matters worse it was at nighttime that the assault was taking place. Quietly following the other two Fireteams Delta took up the rear and fanned out. Using the night vision in their helmets to identify friend from foe they slowly climbed up the steep boulder strewn pass avoiding the road at all costs.

Half way up the pass Trevor fell and fractured his femur and a rib. Luckily his body armor took most of the shock.

"Tye, you're in charge now. Connor will stay with me. Make it to the objective rally point. Assess what you can then get out of there. I know you'll do it right."

"I won't let you down sir."

"I know you won't, now get going. I'll see you soon."

With those last words Tye and the rest of Delta left Trevor and Connor at a boulder. They climbed another several thousand feet almost to the first barricades before they ran into trouble. Tye couldn't locate the two Fireteams that had made their way up the pass in front of them.

"Come in Fireteam's Alfa, Bravo, come in. Report to confirm position, over," Tye called over his helmets comm to the other two missing Fireteams. The only answer came in the form of static. Signaling for Delta to regroup next to him behind a boulder, Tye once again called for the other two Fireteams. Nothing came in, no responses at all.

Looking up the slope, Tye could see the first barricades. They were close to their objective. Tye knew he needed to call in the missing teams but that would waste time and risk detection by using the long-range radio. He had to make a decision and quick, the longer they stayed put the more likely they were to be detected. Finally, not wanting to let Trevor down, Tye issued his order, "Delta, move to objective rally point and watch for the Fireteams, move it!" With that they fanned out from the boulder in a diamond formation, two flanking Fireteams and one front and rear Fireteam. All had their rifles raised ready to fire at a moments notice.

"No! Tye don't…." yelled Trevor into his comm. He had been watching his HUD which showed the progress of Delta. He knew a trap when he saw one. His warning came too late as camouflaged Chinese soldiers opened fire from all sides behind the numerous boulders. It was horrendous the consequences of that order.

"Retreat!" yelled Tye who was leading with Fireteam One. Just after he issued the order he was hit with grenade shrapnel and tossed back down slope to the rear Fireteam Four. The rest of Fireteam One died instantly.

Aaron and Julia with Fireteam Four rushed forward and grabbed Tye and dragged him back to a boulder where the rest of their Fireteam was held up. All of the Marines could tell by their HUD's what their teams vitals where and what the fatality rates were. Using this Trevor watched in horror as Fireteams Two and Three slowly lost all of their members. Only Fireteam Four remained intact with Tye, held down behind a boulder slightly farther down slope.

"Fireteam Four, retreat! Get out of their now!" cried Trevor through his Comms from farther down the pass. He couldn't lose his entire team, he couldn't.

"Sir, we're pinned down. We have Tye but he's severely injured, his suit vitals show that he has sustained severe spinal trauma from the blast, a punctured lung from shrapnel and a fractured vertebrae in the neck from landing. His suit has hardened up but it will be impossible to get him down slope without causing further injury, sir," replied Lennox, Delta's most experienced medic.

"Understood Lennox, but that's an order, get out of there now, leave him if you have too!"

"Sir? We can't leave him he's part of…"

"Go! He's done his job now do yours!" interrupted Trevor.

Lennox wasn't about to leave Tye, no he would do his job. His Sergeant must have taken leave of his senses but Lennox wouldn't abandon anyone, ever. Opening a comm with just his Fireteam, Lennox issued his order, "Julia, Aaron, you are carrying Tye down, me and Reed will cover your backs. Your HUD's will paint the safest path down; go as fast as you can. Ready?"

Both Marines grabbed Tye while Reed and Lennox got into position.

"Ready!" they replied back in unison.

"Go!"

Immediately they all started at a run back down the pass. Their HUD's constantly calculating the best and safest route. Tracer rounds and explosions followed their path as they swiftly made it down the slope. A yell on their comm slowed them down briefly. Julia, Aaron and Reed watched in dismay as Lennox's vitals went out and a marker went up in their HUD's showing him as KIA.

"Keep going! Were almost there," yelled Reed running after them.

Finally they were approaching the rock that Trevor and Connor were at. The firefight was starting to subside; they knew they had made it to safety. Julia and Aaron slowed down and brought Tye behind the boulder. Reed had stopped returning fire and was just yards behind them. As he approached the boulder and was slowing down a stray bullet hit him in the back of his neck. He was dead before he hit the ground in front of him. His momentum caused his body to tumble-down the slope passing his horrified fellow soldiers. His body then plummeted off a small cliff and landed with a thud at the bottom.

The remnants of Delta sat for a few moments in mourning. Then Aaron and Connor immediately went to help Tye while Julia went over to talk with Trevor who was leaning against the rock.

"Sir, we need to evac Tye right away or he'll die. We can get him farther down so that it can be done safely, do you want me to call it in?" Her question was choked with tears. They were all close to breaking down and crying.

After everything that had happened, all those horrible sounds, screams, Trevor was distrait. He was in an unstable state of mind. He blamed Tye wholeheartedly for everything that had occurred. Taking off his helmet to avoid recording he issued orders that he would regret for the rest of his life.

"No, it's too much of a risk. If the clone dies it's his fault and his alone. Call into forward command and let them know what happened. Issue a full report and inform them that unit C-42 is a failure," replied Trevor bitterly. He was confused and full of emotions, more than he could express.

"Sir? But he **will** die if we don't…" she started, shocked that he'd said no.

"I do believe that was an order Private."

"Yes, sir," she replied hesitantly, fully disagreeing with her Sergeant.

Aaron and Connor continued to apply first aid to Tye to the best of their abilities but it was obvious that he was going to die if he didn't get evaced soon. They'd taken his helmet off to stint his head and neck. He was fading in and out of consciousness but when Trevor ventured over he opened his eyes.

"Trevor, I'm sorry," he managed weakly.

"I am sorry too," replied Trevor with as much malice as he could muster, "for ever trusting you. You betraye..."

The remorseful, desperate and tearful look Tye gave him made Trevor avert his eyes. Instead he found himself looking at a fist. Connor punched Trevor as hard as he could in the face, knocking him down against the cold bedrock. The punch knocked him out.

"How dare he say that! Julia call in an Evac asap. Me and Aaron will carry Tye down to that hummock, you get Trevor. If he wakes up, punch him again."

Tye was sent at once to a joint Indian/UN military hospital for emergency treatment before being transferred back to the US for immediate surgery. What was left of Delta soon followed. It was only after arriving back at ISA headquarters that Trevor finally started coming to his senses. Realizing what had occurred and who had remained calm Trevor promoted Connor to Lance Corporal in anticipation of their new recruits.

When he asked what had become of Tye, all the UN doctor would say was that Tye had died shortly after surgery. For the brief moments that he had been awake he had asked for Trevor and the rest of the squad. Trevor regretted not being there and he hated himself for how he had treated Tye for the last time.

All of this seemed like it had occurred years ago compared to now. Trevor looked over to Tens; he was still near the ramp sitting on some rather expensive scientific equipment of which Tens was oblivious. Smiling slightly, Trevor waved him over. Tens sat down beside him, but stayed silent. Trevor realized he didn't want to make the same mistake with Tens as he had with Tye; even if he'd only known Tens for little more than a day.

"Tens, I'm sorry for the way I treated you. It wasn't right of me to say what I did, it was a mistake…. I just wanted you to know that I can make mistakes too."

Tens looked surprised at the soft-spoken apology from the Marine; it hadn't occurred to him that Trevor should be apologizing for anything. Yet Tens felt better after hearing it.

"Thanks Trevor. I, uh, understand. We all make mistakes but the best thing to do, I think, is learn from them," he paused frowning before continuing, "For example, I now know to never ever put a shinie in as the pilot of your ship, or you might end up in some unknown part of space with a critical coolant leak. Then you have to get rescued by the Jedi and an élite legion of brother's and it just gets worse from there…" Tens smiled a little and so did Trevor. They sat in silence for a while, both watching the frantic movements of the technicians as they tried to solve the Holo-projector/Earth technology compatibility problem.

"Tens, when we head back to command in a few minutes, you will be separated from your brothers to have a private conversation with the Vice President and President. They will tell you very important information that may seem at first to be impossible. Believe it, I have and you'll realize soon that it is true. It explains why we seem to know so much about you and the Republic even though you're the first intelligent life we've met from outside the Solar System. I just wanted to tell you ahead of time, so you don't think we are trying to hurt you by separating you from your brothers again."

Tens sat for a little longer before getting up. He was glad that Trevor had warned him in advance. He didn't want to screw up by doing something stupid, especially now that the Republic had arrived.

"Thanks for the warning. We clones are known for perfect recall of information so don't worry about me forgetting anything. As to believing what they have to say, we'll see. I ha…."

Before Tens could finish what he was saying an excited shout came from the Cruiser. Right'eye came running out followed by Riot and Jumps and the rest of Delta. Trevor and Tens couldn't tell who was more exited.

"I …. I mean **we** got the Holo-transmission patched through to command!" said Right'eye triumphantly. His face beaming with success, "It won't be holographic, just 2D but it should work. I guess we can head back with Sgt. Trevor now."

"Good job _ner vod, _I can't believe you actually finished that quickly," Tens said proudly.

Right'eye beamed with the praise before looking back to the ship. He had forgotten to do something, he knew it. He'd secured the transmission, the Resolute was encrypting it so the Separatist couldn't track or trace it to its origin. He had checked the ship's power, everything was running smoothly. He'd even instructed one of the ISA technicians on how to keep the transmission running smoothly; as long as the techie didn't press the red button everything would be fine.

No matter what he thought of though, he couldn't remember what he'd forgotten to do. But before he could go back to investigate Trevor called for everyone's attention.

"Okay, let's head back. We'll get something to eat on the way. By the way Tens, you'll get your weapons back when we arrive at command. If the Separatist somehow find your ship then you'll need them. Let's go."

With that they proceeded to enter the lifts back underground to command.

_Food_, Tens thought as they descended, _how long had it been since he or his brothers had eaten something? Too long, I guess it's time to bring out the ration bars… fun…_

###

**A/N: **Okay, first off, please take notice that I made a rather **big** **mistake** last chapter by stating in Palpatine's P.O.V. that Padawan Ahsoka Tano was onboard the Negotiator. I was eager, perhaps a little too eager to get her into the story. Ahsoka is in fact still on Coruscant in the Jedi Temple. She would have appeared in the normal Star Wars story as a messenger from Yoda to Anakin and Obi-wan on Christophsis. My fault, I've updated the chapter so it won't show the mistake. Not to worry though, she will appear later in the story…

Finally, this chapter was going to be longer but, Trevor and Delta's back-story was a little to long to not be its own chapter. I hope you don't mind a bit of a back-story into Earths politics and conflicts. Due to an overabundance of caution story has been rated T instead of K+. Doesn't hurt to be on the safe side of things. Anyways, might re-name previous chapter as there is no 'battle' in it. Thanks for reading, please review and suggest ideas, they are most warmly welcomed. As always, I do not own Star Wars…


	13. Chapter 13 Preparation & Surprises

"_Before the Republic, there was the Infinite Empire ruled by the Rakata. With an insatiable lust for power, this slaver empire expanded outward, looking for more and more species to subjugate over. It is unknown when the Rakata found the Human species, however believing them to be primitive, inferior and inept at anything but simple vocal language they took them back to their Empire as slaves. Unfortunately for the Rakata, they underestimated the intelligence of this new species." __- Excerpt from Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn's Holocron, Jedi Archives_

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-East Coast Underground Complex North America (ECUCNA), Connecting Tunnel, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

Tens and his brothers along with Delta Squad had just gotten into another armored vehicle and were heading back to ISA command. Trevor had asked Tens what he and his brothers were eating and Tens had offered him some. Needless to say, Trevor was not a fan of standard issue Republic dry rations.

"Hay, Julia, Aaron. You guys should try this, it's uh really good, a lot better than what they give us," Trevor offered while holding out two pieces of a ration cube. He'd already tried it and decided it was horrible, but keeping a straight face, he hoped to prank his unsuspecting squad mates. Meanwhile the clones were scoffing down their cubes like an ordinary meal; how they managed this Trevor could only guess.

"If you don't mind Sergeant," Julia said smiling, "I'll pass." She'd been eying the piece of white ration cube suspiciously and noticed how Trevor had spit his piece out discreetly. Smiling in understanding, Trevor offered the other piece to Aaron.

"Sure, Sarge, I'll try it. Tastes good, right?"

"Sure thing, I might even ask Tens for another."

After grabbing the white cube, Aaron happily ate the whole thing. His dismayed expression and quick grab for his canteen while coughing set everyone into laughter, including Tens and his brothers who'd been watching the prank.

"So, do you guys eat this all the time, or do they just hold out on the good tasting stuff until after a battle? Because that was the blandest tasting piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune of coming across," Trevor stated chuckling a little. Aaron was still finishing off his canteen.

"What! You mean there **is** such a thing as taste? I... I had no idea," exclaimed Riot looking up from his second half-eaten cube. Tens lightly elbowed him in the side before answering.

"No, unfortunately this stuff is all we get. There is a bit of flavor from the mess hall meals on our Star Destroyers, but unless your lucky and stumble across civvie food, you're stuck with it."

"Remind me to treat you all to a real meal while your here. Granted it's still army food, but it tastes a lot better than that stuff."

"I'll hold you to that Sergeant," Tens replied. Trevor chuckled a little and leaned back against the truck. He grabbed his own food and started to eat. The rest of his squad had already been eating. Everything was working out, which was good. He was starting to really like the clones; it would have been a shame if he had killed them earlier.

A few more minutes passed by in silence before suddenly being broke, "Do you have a home to fight for?" Julia asked. She hoped she wasn't being to forward. Though she already knew what the response would be.

"Yes, the cloning facilities where we're created and the planet they are on would be the closest place we clones have to a home," Tens replied cautiously. He wasn't about to name the place, there was nothing wrong with being overly cautious.

"So, when your brothers die in battle are they remembered by the cloners on this world?" Julia continued. She was curious to know how the clones felt about being used for war.

"No. They're remembered by their fellow brothers," defended Tens, he didn't like where her questions were going.

"But what happens when they die? Who remembers them then?"

"They're remembered by... There are records that will show..." Tens felt like he was backed into a corner. Unfortunately for Julia her next question would be too much for Tens.

"But if you're all given numbers, then won't the numbers just be recorded? Not your names or what you did?"

"They... we... we're made to die Julia!" Tens finally snapped while pointing to himself, "That's our purpose, not to be remembered. We serve the Republic and we die for the Republic and that… that's all. We have no choice in the matter," Tens was almost yelling. He hated talking about this. All he had was his brothers; the thought of losing them all for no reason with no one to remember them didn't sit well.

If their attention hadn't been so riveted to Tens at that moment, someone might have noticed how, during the height of his anger, one of Tens un-eaten ration cube's levitated momentarily before falling back to the ground. Well, actually someone did notice, but Right'eye, wide-eyed and stunned by the possible implications of what he just saw, decided it was a conversation best left for another time.

"Enough!" Trevor ordered, "Julia, we'll talk about this later. I'm sorry Tens you had to answer that. It won't happen again."

"It's okay," with that lie Tens placed his helmet back on and calmed himself down.

The last six minutes of the ride went smoothly. The others started chatting again. Right'eye kept giving him an assessing look that made Tens feel uncomfortable. It wasn't his fault that he got so riled up over that conversation. Tens also tried pushing Julia's questions out of his mind but to no avail. What would happen to them all? Would they be forgotten, just flesh droids in another war? He'd always had doubts about his existence and these questions didn't help.

Finally, after calming down completely, Tens decided to satisfy himself with reviewing their supplies on his HUD. They had a week's supply of ration cubes and water bulbs. But, with the arrival of the Republic and the possibility of an alliance with Earth, food wasn't an issue. The main issue and priority was defending the planet from a possible droid invasion from the Providence-class Battle Cruiser that was almost here. Upwards of 200,000 droids could be deployed from that type of Battle Cruiser, not to mention the hundreds of vulture and tri-fighters that would be dispatched.

While all of their weapons were confiscated by the ISA, their ammo hadn't been, so Tens had brought it along with them. All the extra power magazines which had been in the Cruiser with their other supplies now rested along-side the clones. Four small crates carried around 150 magazines for their four DC-15S Carbines and another 50 magazines for their one DC-15A Rifle. Both Tens and Right'eye carried DC-17 pistols for which they had brought extra power cells as well. The ISA had also confiscated their one box of droid poppers and two boxes of flash bangs. Tens really didn't like the flash bangs as they tended to leave both sides momentarily blinded. The droid poppers though would be invaluable if a battle occurred.

Tens also made an identification list of the different CIS droids and fighters coupled with each droids weak spots. He included all the Republic ship identifications as well, that way when the battle occurred, the US pilots wouldn't try to shoot down allied ships. He would have Right'eye figure out a way to transfer the data to the ISA and US military for use against the Separatists.

Finally the truck came to a stop. They'd arrived back. However, as soon as they got out of the truck, another armor-clad Marine sprinted towards them. Pulling out a hasty salute for Sgt. Trevor the Marine momentarily caught his breath.

"You're all to report to the command room at once, the Separatist ship has almost arrived. It should be in orbit in about 15 minutes."

"That's fast...er than it should have been. They must really want your ship! Let's go," Trevor replied briskly. They'd only been gone for 45 minutes. This meant the ship had doubled if not tripled its speed.

After grabbing their supplies, they all followed the Marine at a run back to the command room.

**Location: Far Outer Rim, the Resolute & Negotiator near the planet Earth, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

"Gentlemen, the Separatist Cruiser is 15 minutes from reaching Earth," Admiral Yularen stated to Anakin and a Holo-graphic Obi-wan, "We will be there in 25 standard minutes to assist. Captain Rex, are our troops ready for deployment?"

"Yes, Admiral. Thirty-five of our larty's are ready, the men are just waiting for the all clear, sir. We also have eight Tanks and four walkers ready to deploy too."

"The same goes for us Rex, Cody has our men ready," Obi-wan added from the Negotiator, "Anakin will lead our V-19 squadrons against the Separatist air forces while we deploy our larty's to wherever the droid army is deployed. The Negotiator and Resolute will then attack the Battle Cruiser. Remember that if it has entered the atmosphere above a city, we have to let it escape. The last thing we want is to destroy an entire city by downing a ship on it. Our meeting with their President should help us decide how much assistance they need. Both this United States and United Nations seem to have considerable military forces so they may stand a chance. Luckily, the Providence-Class Battle Cruiser is really not meant for invading a planet singlehandedly. With us at their heels they will try to find the ship quickly before making their retreat."

"If that's the case then they probably won't commit their entire army to an invasion. Which helps us and those on the ground," added Anakin.

"General, do you think the seppies know where the ship is?" asked Cody next to Obi-wan.

"I don't think they do, Cody," replied Obi-wan, "We jammed their communications and sensor arrays before they were in range of Earth to scan for the ship. Right'eye assured us that all the Consular Cruiser's power systems are down except for their Comm computer for communications with us. Those channels are encrypted so the Separatists should not be able to trace them. Also remember that this planet is full of human cities, the electrical interference alone would make it hard if not impossible for the Separatist to find the ship."

Just then, the Resolute's Comm Officer, Dace appeared beside Rex at attention.

"Sir's, the President would like to start the meeting now. Everyone has arrived on their side that needed to be there," Dace reported, saluting the Admiral.

"Thank you, Dace. Please tell them we are ready as well."

"Very well, Admiral. Oh, um sir, I checked with Comm Officer Runt on the Negotiator, it appears the emergency beacon on the Consular Cruiser is still activated, sir."

"What!" Anakin, Obi-wan and Admiral Yularen all exclaimed at once.

"Dace, why didn't you report this earlier! The Separatist can trace that!" Anakin chided.

Dace looked rather defeated, before continuing, "Well, sir, I was kind of busy with the communications set up with Earth, and you also wanted me and Runt to re-establish contact with High Command, sir. I really only just noticed it. Sometimes in large planetary systems, old distress beacons can reverberate back through the system and cause static. That's why I confirmed what I was seeing with Runt, sir, before reporting it. I am sorry, sir, that I did not bring this up earlier."

"Very well, Dace. We will talk about this later," Anakin replied before turning back to the Holo-projection.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments before Obi-wan spoke up, "Well, I guess that means the Separatist do know where the ship is after all. We should probably get on with this meeting, we must warn their President. Hopefully they have the ship located away from one of their major cities."

"Actually, sir, the Consular Cruiser's Comm readings are originating from one of their larger cities, sir."

"Oh... great!" sighed Obi-wan, "Thank you Dace, please let them know that we are ready for that meeting. Actually Dace, if you can, find a way to warn Tens about the distress beacon. I would prefer to have him take care of it."

"Yes, sir!" Dace replied as he hurried off to his station.

"Who in their right mind would move an unknown spaceship into a military base in a major city? I can't believe they were that dumb," stated Anakin.

"Anakin, be mindful of what you are saying. This has never happened to these people before. And remember before you chide them on their placement of military complexes, GAR High Command is located in Galactic City."

"Yeah, but that's different, we have the means to defend ourselves from a space invasion," Anakin stated matter-of-factly while shrugging. As much as he hated to admit it, his old master was correct.

"Yes and these people have never needed to do that before; perhaps the placement of this complex makes sense for a ground based war society."

"Very well Obi-wan, but I still think it was a foolish idea."

"It very well may have been, only time will tell. What I am more worried about is how this system, with billions of humans, has managed to stay undetected by the Republic until now. It just doesn't make any sense."

"I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks that. It does seem highly unlikely. Perhaps the Jedi Council would be able to shed some light on the matter?" Anakin suggested.

"I've already tried that, we aren't in range of the Holo-net."

"General's, if you don't mind me saying so, this whole mission has been odd," Captain Rex interrupted, "Why would Command send us all the way out here after a lone Consular Cruiser with no one of importance onboard? Especially when we'd spent a full week planning to lead a major offensive on Christophsis? The rest of the 501st and 212th fleets are already heading there, they're just waiting on us! I... I don't know. I'm glad that these lost brothers are still alive to be rescued and that we found this new planet. But it just seems odd to me, sir." He looked to Cody in the Holo-projection, hoping his brother would back him up.

Cody nodded his head to Rex, "I agree with Rex, something doesn't seem to add up. And I really can't believe that we're out of range of the Holo-net; I didn't think that was possible. I've thought all this over for a while but I just can't place what's wrong, sir's."

"Well, I guess that makes five of us. Let's see what this President has to say and we'll go from there. If they could offer a history of their planet, it might go a long way to helping solve these mysteries..." replied Obi-wan, before Dace interrupted him.

"Sir's, I am patching through their command room's feed now. There you are. Remember they only see us in 2D."

"Thank you Dace, ah, there they are," replied the Admiral.

#

On the Negotiator, Commander Cody stepped away from Obi-wan and the Holo-projector as the President and other officials took form on it.

He walked over to his Comm officer's station, "Runt, how is it that we can see them in 3D but they can't see us in 3D?" he asked, confused about how this was even possible.

Runt looked up slowly from his work station, before replying, "Well sir, they don't have a Holo-projector in their command center. So with the help of Right'eye we were able to take the live feed from several of their command room cameras and feed it into the Consular Cruisers Holo-projector computer. So, sir, what you're seeing now is several different camera feed angles from their command center being formed into a rough three-dimensional image for our Holo-projector by our onboard computer. The same computer takes our Holo-feed and creates a two-dimensional image for them to view on a large screen. Is that all you wanted to know, sir?"

"Uhh, yes Runt, I believe I follow you. Admirable job as always... You, er, your squad would be very proud of you," Cody said softly while patting the officer on the shoulder, with that rare bit of praise Cody walked back over to his General and stood at attention. Runt, after briefly looking down in remembrance, turned back to his work.

"Ah, Cody glad you could join us," Obi-wan stated, "Madame President let me introduce you to Commander Cody, leader of the 212th Attack Battalion of the Grand Army of the Republic."

**Location: Far Outer Rim, CIS Providence-class Battle Cruiser approaching Earth, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

"Well, sir, we haven't been able to contact fleet command and our sensors are still being jammed by the Republic," reported the B1 Commander Droid nervously. It's Admiral didn't like to hear bad news, normally.

"What about the Consular Cruiser? Were you able to isolate its location on the planet?"

"Yes, sir, thanks to their emergency beacon we were able to locate it. It's near a large city on one of the planets continents."

"Very good Commander. We will focus our attack there, by the time the Republic catches up we will be in Hyperspace with the Senate Representatives," stated the Trade Federation Admiral smiling, "Start assembling the C-9979's so we can deploy our ground forces. I think, Commander that 100,000 B1's, a few thousand of our B2's, and a hundred or so of our Droideka's should work splendidly. Couple that with a few dozen of our AAT's, our tri-fighters and vultures and any local resistance shall be dealt with easily."

"Very well, sir. What about the civilian populations?"

"They are of no importance; kill them if they get in your way. Just do this quickly before the Republic arrives!"

"Roger, Roger!"

Turning from the Admiral, the B1 Commander Droid walked across the Providence-class Cruiser's Bridge to the Turbo-lifts.

Walking out into the ships lower hanger deck the Droid Commander gave his orders, "New orders from the Admiral boys, start assembling the transports and have them loaded by the time of our arrival. Power up the Vultures and Tri-fighters, he wants a full escort for the transports. Move it!"

A lot of 'Roger, Roger's' echoed across the hanger as the droids quickly began to assemble the massive transports.

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-ECUCNA Main Command Center, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035 **

When they entered the command center, things started happening really fast. Tens transferred his battle strategies over to Right'eye's HUD so he could figure out how to transfer it to the ISA Techies. He did this while they were all brought into a large room.

Across from the platform they stood on was a large screen with images and data streaming constantly. Tens recognized one of the images as a map of the planet with a lot of red and blue moving dots on it. Scattered below them and all across the room were work stations manned by ISA and UN officers. Everyone was moving about, shouting orders, and running across the room to file papers or grab data pads.

In the middle of the room was a large circular table, which faced the screen. At it sat dozens of officials and military leaders including the President, Vice President, UN Chairman and the UN General Tens had seen earlier. It looked like they were going to start the meeting with the Admiral and Generals.

The clones followed Delta down the stairs to the main level. There, Tens and his _vode_ immediately noticed their confiscated weapons on a table against the left wall.

"Not yet. After this meeting you'll get them back, don't worry," Trevor assured the clones who looked longingly at their weapons. Tens had his brother's place their ammo crates there.

"We better, I can only be without a deece for so long," Riot lamented while turning from the table to follow the others.

"Which deece are you talking about _ner vode_?" Jumps chimed in while hitting Riot playfully on the pauldron.

Riot turned to retaliate when Tens interceded, "Knock it off you two, we're representing the GAR here so act like it. You two can hug and kiss later, but not right now!"

"Sorry, sir. And I didn't know you were **that** kind of brother, sir."

"_Fierfek_, Riot! and stop calling me sir; I'm not a higher rank than you... yet. But if I do get promoted, you better hope you're not assigned to my squad," Tens stated coldly. He felt bad for getting so angry at Riot, but he was still irritated from the earlier conversation on the transport.

With that half-hearted warning Tens took off his helmet, turned and walked over to where Delta and Right'eye stood; near the President. Right'eye had just finished transferring Tens data list to an ISA technician's data pad.

"Ah, Mr. Chairman, these are the Republic clone troopers I was telling you about. This is, uh, well why don't I let you guys introduce yourselves. This is UN Chairman Adrian Hüber, he is also the Chancellor of Germany, another country in our world," Lisa stated warmly.

To the clones she was dressed beautifully, her straight black hair and green eyes contrasted fittingly with the nice dress suit she wore. Tens suspected she really wanted to make a good first impression to the Generals. The Chairman, however, wore a black dress suit. He was young and had well-combed brown hair and a rough beard which, even to the clones, looked uncomfortable. For a leader of a planet under siege he practically beamed with excitement in contrast to Lisa's calm cool and collected demeanor.

"Thank you Madame President. Mr. Chairman, I am clone trooper Tens at your service," Tens stated at parade rest. Then pointing to his brothers he continued, "These are my brothers, Right'eye, Jumps and Riot."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all in person. My, my, you do look almost exactly like the...," before he could finish Lisa nudged him slightly and nodded her head, "Ah, yes, right, well then, Lisa already informed me of how you were first found. On behalf of our world I am sorry for your treatment; I assure you we meant no harm. We are very keen to meet with your Generals. Is it true that they are Jedi?" The Chairman was indeed exited to meet the clones, and it was obvious he wanted to make a good first impression too.

"Yes, sir. They are Jedi." Tens noticed that the Chairman had an accent of some sort; it was the first major difference in language he'd seen so far on the planet.

"Well, this will be interesting! Madame President, who are the escorts for Tens and his brothers?" asked the Chairman curiously while looking to the un-helmeted Marines standing close to the clones.

"That is the remainder of Delta Squad, Chairman, you know of course about what happened in Tibet earlier this month. I'll let them introduce themselves," Lisa stated quietly.

"Mr. Chairman, it is an honor to meet you, sir. I am Sgt. Trevor Kelly of Delta Squad. This is Lance Corporal Connor Black, this is Private Aaron Meyer and this is Private Julia Rush First Class."

For the first time the Chairman actually looked solemn before moving closer to the Marines, "I am sorry, Sergeant for what occurred in Tibet, it was a tragic incident. Your men were some of the best. I'm also sorry to hear about the failure of unit C-42. It was your report that put a stop to that program you know. Who knows how many more incidents like that could have occurred had we not stopped it? Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for your part in all of this. We will talk later about new recruits for your squad."

Tens tilted his head slightly while listening to this discussion. He doubted few others outside a meter could hear what was being said. Looking at Trevor, he noticed how the Marine's jaw and fists clenched when the Chairman mentioned unit C-42. Trevor only did that when he was angry, as Tens had found out earlier on the ship. _Unit C-42? Huh, I guess that's another question to ask him on my ever-growing list of questions for Trevor, _he thought.

Turning from the Marines the Chairman walked over to talk with other UN officials. The President was about to speak again when an aide rushed forward.

"Mrs. President, we have your national address ready, the press conference will start at 3:10 in the Press room. Here is a copy. Also, we just received word that the meeting is going to start."

"Thank you. This will be an interesting address to the nation," the President mused holding the paper while turning back to the clones, "Their going to think I've gone insane. I guess I should be used to that by now. Anyways, Tens, I would like to talk with you in private after this meeting."

"Very well, Ma'am. I look forward to..." Tens never got to finish as his Holo-pad communicator beeped. Taking it out of a side pocket in his armor, he held it out. A Holographic clone officer appeared on it, Tens recognized the clone's surroundings as the bridge of the Resolute.

"This is Comm Officer Dace of the Resolute, is this clone trooper 20-1010?"

"Yes, sir. This is Tens. What do you need, sir?" He was surprised they had risked communicating like this. The Separatist might be able to trace it. Holo-pads aren't as secure as a ship to ship transmission. Tens barely noticed how Lisa and pretty much everyone else at the table was mesmerized by the 3D Holographic image.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news trooper. Your Consular Cruiser's emergency signal is still activated; we are still receiving it, which means the CIS Cruiser knows exactly where you are. I would advise you to turn it off and prepare for a full Separatist invasion."

"Understood, sir. Thanks for the warning, we will prepare," Tens heart sank as Dace's image flickered out. Everyone who heard the conversation was quiet including the clones and Delta. Right'eye looked crestfallen; he just realized what he'd forgotten to do back at the ship.

_Osik! Why can't anything be simple? What in the universe was Right'eye thinking, not turning off the_ _emergency beacon_. _He needs to fix this now! _Tens thought.

"Right'eye, get your _shebs_ back to the ship and turn that signal off! Riot, you're going with him and make sure you grab your blasters before you go. _Jii shaadlar!_" Tens ordered. He wasn't happy at all. The Separatist knew exactly where they were now and that changed everything.

Right'eye just nodded his head and immediately left with Riot at a run. Trevor ordered Connor and Julia to follow them. Then Tens turned to the President.

"Where are we? Are we away from your cities? Because now that the Separatist know exactly where the ship is located, they won't bother going anywhere else on the planet."

Lisa looked shocked or at least surprised; the worst case scenario had just become a reality. She shook her head slightly, "I'm afraid we are located under the US capital, Washington D.C."

"What! Why would you have... wait, never mind," Tens tried to remain calm, getting angry wouldn't help the situation, "You need to evacuate the city right now. The Separatist don't care who they kill, civilians or soldiers, to get what they want. They will destroy this city if it stands in their way. Do you have the man power to do this?"

Coming to her senses again Lisa nodded her head, "Yes Tens we do. Thank you for your concern, but we did think ahead for this scenario. Your ship is a few miles south at Quantico which leaves the city less of a target. I am issuing a mandatory evacuation of Washington. And Mr. Chairman, it looks like this meeting will have to be a quick one, if we are to get you to safety."

If Tens thought command was busy before, he was wrong, after that statement it became a non-stop shouting match as officers scrambled to get the evacuation orders through.

Tens and Jumps went to stand behind Trevor as Lisa and the Chairman sat back down at the table. Just then someone shouted, "Where live and transmitting!"

Suddenly the familiar faces of Generals Kenobi and Skywalker along with that of Admiral Yularen and Captain Rex appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, I am General Obi-wan Kenobi of the Galactic Republic. Over here is General Anakin Skywalker and this is Admiral Yularen. I am pleased to meet you Madame President and Mr. Chairman though I wish it were under better circumstances. We have much to discuss."

#

Right'eye ran as fast as he could to the transport, he had his DC-15S Carbine and had just holstered his DC-17 after checking its charge. The others were right behind him.

"Driver, get us to Quantico GARD as fast as possible! Move it!" Connor yelled following Right'eye into the back of the transport truck. The driver hopped in to the vehicle and immediately sped off down the tunnel system.

"I'm such a _di'kut_. I let everyone down, again! I knew I forgot something, _Fierfek_ piece of _kriffin osik_!" Right'eye said slamming his fist into the trucks bed. He was really just ranting to himself but Julia, Connor, and Riot could all clearly hear him.

"_Udesii ner vod! _It isn't your fault. If anything it's all of ours for not noticing it," Riot assured him as he received an angry glare from his brother, "Besides, it doesn't matter now; we'll have to fight no matter what. And if there's one thing we clones are good at, it fighting. So don't worry."

"Sure, you know as well as I that **I** was left in charge of the ship and its functions. Tens gave me that responsibility, and I let him down."

"Please _ner vod_, don't blame yourself. Uhh, if anything, blame me, everyone else does. Accidents happen, just think what might have happened had I not accidentally found the Hyperdrive controls when we were being attacked? We might have all been dead," Riot hoped this would work.

Right'eye stayed silent for a while, thinking it all over while tracing one of his green paint stripes on his left gauntlet. After tracing the stripe for the twelfth time he finally responded, "I... I guess your right. It doesn't really matter now anyways. But I still need to turn that signal off, maybe that might confuse them... And we don't all blame you, you _di'kut_."

Riot smiled a little, "Yeah, right! Besides, I was thinking that we might still be able to stop the seppies from getting here. What if we flew the ship somewhere else, say maybe even into space? Surely they would follow?" Riot felt rather proud of his idea even if it meant he might have to go with the ship and away from his brothers.

"That actually might work! Will see, good idea Riot." He was still angry at himself but he couldn't stay angry at his brother. Besides, Riot had actually come up with a good idea.

"Yeah, hopefully it will," Riot stated, however he was just satisfied his brother was in a better mood.

The rest of the trip to the GARD went a lot faster thanks to their driver. Right'eye decided he actually felt safer in a Larty under fire than he did in the back of this speeding vehicle. Every once in a while the sound of screeching brakes and horns could be heard as other drivers heeded the faster truck.

During this time, Right'eye's thoughts wandered to his brother by choice and what he'd seen him do earlier. There was no way he could have imagined it. And ration cubes don't just randomly decide to float in the air. Was it possible? Right'eye could swear that he'd never seen Tens do anything like that before, but thinking hard about it, he realized that strange things had occurred around his brother before. A handful of times on Geonosis, and a few times in live-fire training back on Kamino.

Right'eye trusted Tens unconditionally. So the fact that he hadn't mentioned anything about this to him meant Tens probably didn't know himself.

_That could be dangerous. What if the Jedi found out? What would they do? I can't let them know, I have to protect him, somehow I must. If the Kaminoans find out he'll be sent back for re-conditioning or worse, experiments. Nope, I won't let that happen. I'm sorry Tens for letting you down this time, but I won't let you down about this. I promise you. _

With those last thoughts, Right'eye and the rest arrived at the lifts to the above ground hanger at Quantico.

###

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The longest so far at over 5,500 words. I had to update my other story 'Who Am I?' last week, so sorry I am late in updating this past weekend. By the way, if you like this story, please check out 'Who Am I?' It is after all a side story to this one. List of Mando'a Terms used in this chapter are below...

**Hay,** I've updated my profile! Its a lot better, really. Don't believe me then check it out. Now it gives you a bit more info about me, my current and future stories and more Mando'a...

Finally, if you haven't noticed Tens and co are getting closer to an upcoming battle. Because of this the chapter POV's will change multiple times, there may also be some time differences between when the different POV's take place, but they should be only slight. Anyways, I hope you don't mind. As always please review and look for mistakes, suggestions or ideas are welcomed. And as always, I don't own star wars...as cool as that would be...I still don't... : (

**Mando'a Words used- In case you didn't know.**

_vod(e) - _Brother(s)

_ner vod(e)_ - my brother(s)

_Jii shaadlar - _Means either Move now! or Now Move! Either way works.

_Udesii ner vod! - _Calm down my brother!

_di'kut_ - Idiot

_Osik - _umm, it means dung. Yeah I'm going with that.

_Fierfek_ - Hutt word for poison or poisoness

_Kriff/Kriffing_ - derogatory term in Basic that's synonymous with Frick/Fricking here on Earth and whatever that's synonymous with here.


	14. Chapter 14 Plans & Revelations

**(This first part is just for fun, the actual story begins below it. To set the mood look up Padme's Funeral music and start playing it when I show to do so, enjoy….)**

**Scene:** Funeral of a once great website at the Jedi Temple, Coruscant. Every Jedi Knight, Senator of the Republic, Clone Commander and Captain was present, even Count Dooku and General Grievous showed up.

**Yoda:** Saddened by this loss we are. Live on in the Force it will. Remember the fallen we shall, but continue on we mus...

**Chancellor Palpatine** (Interrupts)**:** As unfortunate as these turn of events are, my resolve has never been stronger...

**Mace:** (Clears throat) Sure, your Excellency, I already saw one of your new advertisements, _my lord_...

**Palpatine:** I know nothing of what you speak...

**Count Dooku:** For once I actually agree with the Chancellor, this is most unfortunate. _And it fits in perfectly with my plans_ (Evil smirk)

**Yoda:** (Cough) Continue, shall we? Hmmm? Thank you, lower the pyre.

(Begin sad music from Padme's funeral)

**Obi-wan to Anakin** (Whispering)**:** This is ridiculous, why would they change the format, it just doesn't make any sense...

**Anakin:** A lot of things don't make sense to you my former master.

**Obi-wan:** Yes well, I personally like to read in peace without a new phone or TV Ad flashing at me in my puerperal vision. I almost had a seizure!

**Cody to Rex** (Over their comm while watching the proceedings)**:** Hay Rex, you see that Ad for the new smart phone, the one with the Holo-projector touch screen?

**Rex:** Don't tell me you saw it on...

**Cody:** Yep, I think I have enough credits, what about you?

**Rex:** Personally, I'm more concerned that Count Dooku and his pet are here without causing a mini war. And who let those Magna Guards in? But, yes to answer your question, I already have one. (Snickers)

**Tens:** I never thought I'd see the day when this would happen, this is truly a sad day for the Republic.

**Riot:** Dude, they've had the Ad's for a long time now, where have you been?

**Tens:** (Sigh) _Think happy thoughts Tens, Happy thoughts..._

**S****lySenran408 to everyone there:** Thank you all for attending, I know for some this website was cherished, may it always be in your hearts and minds... Okay, that's that, food & refreshments are on the lower levels, please keep all trash with you or stow it in the proper receptacles, (Cough) Grievous, astromech's are not trash cans! Oh, and Rex, the Kor Vella Twist Kiosk is on the far right of the lower level, Don't-Over-Do-It! What the... Fox, who allowed Magna Guards in here?

* * *

**A/N:** Okay stop playing sad music! No need to make the rest of the story sad. As to the above, I know, I had too, I'm sorry, an Ad bugged me one to many times and this came to mind. But enough with the charade and on with the real story... Please Review...

**Warning: **Just in case, there is mention of suicidal thoughts below. If you're sensitive to this, you've been warned.

* * *

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, ISA-(ECUCNA), Main Command Center, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035**

"Ah, Cody glad you could join us," Obi-wan stated as the Commander stepped up to the Holo-projector, "Madame President let me introduce you to Commander Cody, leader of the 212th Attack Battalion of the Grand Army of the Republic."

"It's nice to meet you Commander," Lisa stated from her seat in the ISA command room. The two Generals, Admiral, and two clone officers all appeared larger than life on the screen in front of her.

"Ma'am," Cody responded nodding his helmeted head.

"Sorry, please continue on with what you were saying Admiral," Obi-wan continued.

"Thank you, General. We've made our decision. Since it was Republic troops who found Earth and brought this Separatist threat to it, it is the Republic's responsibility to protect your world, at least until our soldiers are recovered." Tens, who was standing at parade rest behind the President and Chairman, could swear the Admiral was looking at him when he said, 'brought this Separatist threat to it'._ Guess we're still in trouble_.

Obi-wan finished from where the Admiral left off, "Once the Separatists are eliminated it will be up to your United Nations to decide whether Earth will become part of the Republic and be under its protection. However, I'm afraid much of that will have to wait until later."

The UN Chairman leaned over to talk to the President for a few moments before speaking.

"I am glad to hear Gentlemen that you will help defend our planet from this immanent invasion. Your trooper, Tens, has already given us valuable Intel on the Separatists and their weapon capabilities. He's also sent some of his men to take care of the distress beacon. As to joining the Republic, I'm afraid that choosing a side in your war would only bring the war to us."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, before Obi-wan spoke, "With all due respect Mr. Chairman, the war has already found you, willing or not. If you were not aware, there were two Separatist Battle Cruisers in your system. One of them escaped when we arrived. So even if we destroy the one heading to your planet, the Separatist already know of your system. They will return."

"I'm afraid Obi-wan's right," Anakin added, "The Separatists will undoubtedly return to investigate further, especially if this remaining Battle Cruiser doesn't report back. You may have no choice but to choose a side."

"Very well, that decision will be left up to the world congress to decide. I thank you however for the warning... and threat," Adrian replied crisply. Though he and Lisa had already discussed it, he didn't like getting backed into a decision-making corner; especially on a decision as big as this one.

"Mr. Chairman, Mrs. President, if you don't mind me asking, how large is your planet's military force? In order to aid in the most effective way possible, it would help if we knew," Obi-wan hoped it was a large army; around a million soldiers would give them a fighting chance.

Adrian smiled, genuinely smiled. _Time to show the Republic the Earth is not completely defenseless._

"I'm glad you asked General. Our planets combined armed forces total at just over forty million soldiers. The United Nations armed forces have around ten million, which includes three million soldiers from the United States. The US itself has an additional five million on top of what they already have in the UN."

Tens couldn't believe what he'd just heard. By the stunned looks on the faces of the Generals and Admiral they couldn't either. There was silence, complete and utter silence. Obi-wan crossed his arms and opened his mouth to speak but decided to scowl instead. Anakin had a look of confusion and surprise while the Admiral looked reasonably concerned; Rex and Cody just shuffled in place a little and cocked their helmeted heads to the side while looking to each other, undoubtedly having a private conversation on their comms. Finally Anakin broke the silence.

"Are you sure you need our help? I... I mean that's a, uh, large army." He was serious, that was a far larger army then the entire Republic had at the moment.

"Yes, we definitely need your help," the Chairman replied, almost pleadingly, "Not only are we dealing with advanced technology but the majority of our armed forces are tied up in different parts of our world maintaining the peace. Our world does have over 14 billion people in it you know; conflict is inevitable."

Not liking the tone the Chairman used when saying 'conflict is inevitable', Obi-wan finally decided to join the conversation, "That is still a very large army Mr. Chairman, for such a small world. How many of these soldiers are available to defend your location?"

The Chairman turned to the President smiling, it was her turn. Lisa nodded her head and stood up while clearing her throat, "We will have around thirty-five-thousand soldiers here to help by the time the Separatists arrive. Most are currently evacuating the city above us. However, we do have extensive missile and air forces ready to deploy."

Obi-wan frowned slightly. After hearing how large of a military this planet had; he'd thought they would have had more soldiers available. Then again, as the Chairman said, they were 'maintaining the peace'. He imagined war had something to do with it too.

He continued, "The Separatist will deploy only the forces they need to get the cruiser and whatever people they mistakenly hope to find in it. They may deploy up to 200,000 droids so while thirty-thousand or so soldiers is a lot you will still need assistance. As to your air and missile defenses, most of their transports have strong deflector shielding around them that can withstand heavy laser fire and flak. Depending on what type of weaponry you have, you may not be able to destroy them before they reach the ground. The transports will also be escorted by Vulture and Tri-fighter droids. They are very fast and maneuverable and have deflector shielding too. I can't say how well your air forces will do without knowing how well they work."

Lisa smiled, "Actually General, we were rather hoping to use a special type of missile, but against their main Battle Cruiser, not their transports."

**Location: Far Outer Rim, the Resolute's Main Hangar Bay, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035**

Denal sat atop an empty Tibanna fuel crate in the Resolute's main hangar bay. All around him hundreds of his 501st brothers lined up in rows waiting. Any minute now they would all climb aboard their respective Larty's and head off to stop a Separatist invasion of a previously unknown planet. Denal however, was waiting for his Captain. He was to personally accompany him down to the surface, something he'd done many times before.

One thing they didn't have to worry about this time was flak. Amazingly they were landing on a friendly planet that hadn't been invaded... yet. So as long as General Skywalker did his job, and these new people didn't mistake them for the enemy, they shouldn't need to worry about getting shot down. Far too many times Denal had watched helplessly as a nearby Larty blew-up or crash landed and he'd been unable to do anything about it. So many of his brothers had died this way without ever firing a shot.

_I'll probably die someday too. But I will be remembered when I do, I will make a difference, I owe that at least to my fallen brothers._

"Hay, Denal, you ready for this?" It was Sergeant Hez who interrupted his thoughts. Hez, who'd been walking past Denal to his own unit, noticed the trooper sitting alone.

"You bet, sir. Just waiting for the Captain. Shouldn't be a hard battle, if the rumors are true, we have an actual military we'll be fighting alongside."

"Yeah, it almost sounds too good to be true. I can't complain though, how many times have we had to fight the Seppies **and** save the local civvies without any local support? Too many times I'd say... Well, see you around and keep the Captain safe. He trust's you," Hez smiled and nodded his head before continuing on eliciting a similar response from Denal.

"Rex trusts you? I'm not sure I believe that," Sergeant Coric mockingly stated walking up to stand where Hez had just stood. He was glad to see Denal. He too was to accompany Rex down to the ground.

"I'm not the one sticking needles into the Captain's _shebs_ every three minutes during a battle _ner vod_. If I was him I'd be worried, never know when you might slip him something else, sir," Denal laughingly joked, he enjoyed annoying Coric and Coric liked doing the same to him. It was something they had started doing recently to take the edge off before, during, and after battles.

"Are you forgetting I'm **your** medic too? Better not get injured, accidents in the operating room are rare, but they do happen and can be very serious, fatal even," the medic stated coldly while setting his med-kit down and joining Denal on the crate. He started checking the charge on his DC-15.

All right, that one made Denal feel a little uneasy. Medics were always there for you, not only because it was their duty but because they're also your brother. Coric was obviously on edge about something to illicit such a response.

"Okay, what's bothering you? Normally Medics don't make their fellow brothers consider death over a trip to the operating room... sir."

"Nothings wrong." Coric looked down to his chrono, they should be leaving anytime.

_Where in the kriff is Rex!_

"Sure, sir, and I'm a gundark not your brother. Now really, what's wrong?"

"_Fek_, Denal! Can't you ever leave me alone," _Yeah something's definitely wrong_, "Okay fine, I'm nervous for the upcoming battle, happy?"

"Umm, no sir. You, nervous? Umm you're a medic, again sir, not helping with confidence amongst the troops."

Coric rolled his eyes and punched his brother in the arm before continuing.

"I'm not nervous about aiding the men you _di'kut_; Rex said to expect high civilian casualties."

"Oh, I see." Denal's expression darkened. They'd already been briefed on what to expect on this world. Fighting in a major city would definitely complicate matters, especially for the medics.

"So instead of just patching up brothers, I also have to patch up any civvies caught in the crossfire. You know that's the priority. Which means more _vode_ will die because we medics will be busy patching up civvies."

Denal stayed quiet for a while, yeah it was tough. He imagined it was hard being forced to help a civvie, who was stupid enough to step into the battle, over a fellow brother. But then again, that's what they're made for, to die fighting for the Republic and its civilians.

"You'll try your best, sir. You always do. Besides, it sounds like the seppies are in a hurry; there might not be any fighting by the time we arrive."

"Yeah Denal, like that ever happens. But thanks for the sentiment. I guess you're safe the next time I patch up your sorry _shebs_."

Denal smiled, that was more like the Coric he knew. _All right, time to talk about medical stuff, which should keep his mind from wandering to more worrisome things. _

"So, sir, what exactly do you have stuffed into that kit of yours anyways? Looks like you could drown an Aiwha with all that gear."

Coric smirked, he knew what Denal was trying to do, and he didn't mind at all.

"Well, let's see. I have over 200 bacta patch packs and that's not even counting what's already on the Larty. Here I have..."

**Location: ISA-(ECUCNA), Main Command Center, 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035**

"Well, I think this plan will work rather well. Rex, make sure the portable Holo-projector makes it to them when we arrive. I think we'd all prefer a more secure method of communication," Anakin stated contentedly. The meeting had only lasted eight minutes, but more information had passed during those few minutes then he or anyone else had thought possible. Needless to say, they were all glad it was over.

"Yes, sir!" Rex stated before turning to his private channel with Cody, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one Rex, but the Generals and others think it will work, let's try giving them the benefit of the doubt this time, eh?"

"Fine, see you dirt side… By the way, I heard about your little plan to beat us in kill count. Not going to happen _ner vode_, but good luck all the same." Before Cody could respond Rex cut the channel and went off to rally his men, smirking under his helmet. _I don't think so Cody, you've only beaten my boys once, it won't happen again. _

Back at the Command room the Chairman got up, "Just make sure you keep your ships clear when the time comes," he reminded before continuing, "On behalf of our world I thank you for your support. I can only hope that after this we can become allies. It would be a wise choice, I think. Now if you'll excuse me, by the look my security escort is giving me I think it's about time I retreated to a safer location." With that the Chairman was quickly escorted down another one of the ISA facilities never-ending tunnels. The President and Vice President both stayed behind, Lisa still needed to talk with Tens.

Obi-wan however had one more question he needed to ask.

"Mrs. President, if you don't mind me asking, when was your planet first colonized?"

Lisa looked up confused, "I don't believe I follow you, General."

"Sorry for not making myself clear, but Humans are a galaxy wide species. We've been slowly migrating outwards from the core of the galaxy over the past 25,000 years. So, when did humans first colonize Earth?"

Obi-wan guessed it must have been no more than three thousand years ago, any later and the planet would most certainly have been more populated. He presumed that something, maybe a great war, had destroyed the colonizing people's technology so that they had to re-learn most of it. This would explain why the humans on this planet were so far behind technologically from the rest of the universe.

"That may be the case for the rest of the Galaxy, General, but that is not the case here. We have no evidence our planet was ever 'colonized'. We do have evidence of human inhabitation on our planet dating as far back as around 150,000 years ago. And there's strong evidence showing our likely ancestors existing a million if not two million years ago. I hope this is the answer you were looking for."

"Uh, yes, thank you Mrs. President, that was all," Obi-wan couldn't completely hide his surprise so he quickly excused himself, "I have to prepare the men now for landing. Thank you Madame President, I look forward to meeting you in person once we arrive."

"Me too, General," Lisa smiled before the video feed cut out. It re-emerged a few seconds later on some of the ISA techie work stations, but with comm officer Dace's image. The techies and Dace would be in constant contact to coordinate the battle with the Republic and US/UN armed forces.

When Lisa turned around, she looked tired, "Tens, I'm afraid the conversation I promised you will have to be shorter than I'd hoped, if you would follow me."

Tens looked at his chrono; the seppies would be arriving in about seven minutes._ This better be a fast conversation; I need to get back to Right'eye and the ship before the sepp's get here._

Tens followed the President into a small side room, Jumps went to follow but Tens ordered him to get their gear ready and load it onto another truck for transport back to the hangar. Trevor and Aaron went to stand on either side of the entrance to the room while the President closed the door. The Vice President was unable to attend; he had more important matters to attend to, matters that Lisa would soon join him in after her talk.

Sitting down inside, Lisa let out a long held-back sigh. She smiled to Tens across the table; _this will be interesting, time to see if the clones are really to be trusted, or maybe I'm wrong, maybe they are secretly plotting with the Chancellor. Either way, time to find out._

"I'll just jump right into it, you may find some of what I'm about to say hard to believe but it's true." Her advisors had given her a quick rundown of information that would most likely convince the clones of the truth. Lisa was of course familiar with the movies in question but she was no expert on that vast, supposedly fictional, universe.

Tens gave her his best '_let's just hear the kriffing info already_' look.

Nodding her head in understanding she continued, "Simply put Tens, we know everything about you. Almost everything that's happened in the Republic's past, present and possible future we know about. For instance, you and your three million plus brothers were born ten years ago on the cloning world of Kamino. You're all clones of the bounty hunter Jango Fett who was killed at the beginning of the Battle of Geonosis by Jedi Master Mace Windu because he was working with Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatist. We also..."

Tens expression during her explanation changed from one of amusement to one of shock. There was no way this could be possible, period. He had to interrupt, some of the info she was saying wasn't exactly public knowledge and he was nervous about the mention of Kamino.

"How?" he stated simply. But he only listened with little interest to the first part of her next statement. Something about thirty year old movies and not actually knowing how it was possible. _She might be speaking the truth. How else could they know so much? The Generals didn't mention any of that, and I'm sure my brothers didn't. I still don't believe it. More importantly, with such knowledge, are they a threat to the Republic?_

As if to answer his thoughts, she continued, bringing him back to the present.

"Of all the information we have Tens, what I'm about to say next is vital to the future of the Republic, I've decided it's up to you whether you tell your superiors or not."

Tens was listening carefully, the edge of excitement in her voice was very clear.

"The Republics Chancellor, Palpatine is the sith lord the Jedi Council has been looking for, Count Dooku's Master; Darth Sidious. Almost three years into the war, he will issue Contingency Order 66 and the GAR will execute it most efficiently, killing almost all the Jedi..."

At first, Tens had the sudden urge to laugh, the Chancellor a sith? Hah! She was obviously insane. Then he heard the rest.

Without conscious thought he reached for his non-existent blaster. At the same time a calm and soothing voice in his head repeated,

"_These contingency orders will not be repeated or told to anyone. Only the Supreme Commander, GAR commanding officers and your brothers know of them. If anyone else does, they are to be eliminated immediately with lethal force upon discovery." _

_Ughh! Get out of my head! I can't... stop... She's innocent! Please..._

Unfortunately, the part of his brain flash-trained to follow the orders without question took over. Finding no gun, he lunged over the table at the President; he hit his mark with deadly accuracy.

Tens fought with all his might against his mind and body's automatic response, it took all his effort. By the time he was in control of both again he found himself looking into the terrified green eyes of the President. Tens gauntleted arm pushed against her throat holding her against the wall strangling the life from her. He immediately released her and slowly backed away with his trembling hands held out almost begging; terrified by what he'd almost done.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't know. I... I couldn't stop myself, please; it wasn't in my control..."

Tens found himself sitting in her chair with his head in his hands, the smooth Kaminoan voice still echoing in his head. Lisa, after coughing and regaining her breath, was still substantially shaken. She slowly walked over to him. After a pause as if to say something, she walked past him to the door, opened it and asked Trevor to step inside. Trevor obliged and found a very distraught looking Tens and flustered President looking at him.

"What happened?" he asked immediately concerned, he needed to know.

"Umm," Lisa gulped and gave Tens an appraising look, "Nothing too important Trevor, it's just, for our safety, it might be best if you were in here."

Trevor, still concerned, nodded his head and found a place to sit. Trevor noticed, for some odd reason Tens looked relieved to see him. Tens slowly got back up and upturned the overturned chair and table before sitting back in his own chair.

"I'm deeply sorry Mrs. President for my behavior and actions, both were uncalled for. I had no control, but it shouldn't happen again, just please don't mention the, umm, you know what I mean," he said looking both desperate and scared.

_What did I just do? I had no control over my body at all... I almost killed her... Why?_

It didn't take Tens mind long to finds the answer.

_That must have been a security measure for the contingency orders. If that's the case, then maybe she's right, what if the Chancellor is a sith? That could be very bad, she said we killed the Jedi; we followed through with that order in the future. Why, why would she burden me with this, why not just tell the General? Ugh, does everything have to be difficult?_

Tens shook his head; there was way too much information to think about. He suddenly was aware of two sets of eyes staring at him.

"Thank you Mrs. President for that information, I will think about what you said. I think though, it's about time I got back to my ship." If Tens sounded urgent it's because he was, he needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person in the universe he trusted unconditionally; Right'eye.

**Location: ISA-ECUCNA, Ground to Air Rapid Deployment Hangar, ISA/USAF Operations Division (Quantico), 41 days since Battle of Geonosis, Earth year 2035**

"Well, I don't think we need to worry about the distress beacon, like **ever** again," Riot stated simply while looking at the smoldering remains of the life-saving turned trouble-making system. Evidently Right'eye still had some steam to vent about his earlier absent-mindedness. However, Julia and Connor were just happy to finally see one of the clone weapon's fire.

_"Hmm, so they do look and sound the same as in the movies,"_ Julia mumbled to herself. She'd been surprised to say the least when the clone had suddenly pulled out his handgun and fired a blue plasma bolt into the ships control panel.

"Umm, don't you think you cut it kinda close to the comm controls?"

"Shut up, you _di'kut_," Right'eye's tone however was less than intimidating to the shinie. He decided he needed to shoot something to relieve his stress and the small incessantly blinking red light posed a target to good to resist. He was sure that nothing else had been damaged but to make certain he checked over all the ships controls.

"Yep, everything's still in working order, minus one unnecessary emergency beacon. I'd say mission accomplished!"

Riot rolled his eyes at his smirking brother. He hadn't known Tens or Right'eye very well before the attack on their attack cruiser, but he'd seen them occasionally. So he was constantly learning new things about their personalities. Like now he knew that Right'eye didn't take personal failure well. One more trait to add to the ever-growing list Riot was compiling mentally on his brothers. Riot started his 'list' when he first arrived as a shinie to the 442nd from Kamino. Jumps called it his shinie survival guide. It was important for both of them to know what made their older brothers happy or angry, sad or determined. Knowing this gave the two shinies a better chance of being useful, being liked. They both shared the same fear that their older brothers teased them, not because they liked or wanted them, but because they thought they were a nuisance not worth having around.

As Riot thought all this over, a perfect example of his 'shinieness' came to mind; what happened to the 'brilliant' plan he'd come up with on the way here. The, 'let's fly the ship to catch the attention of the seppies and die as heroes' kinda plan. Unfortunately their ship wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. They'd all noticed two things right away when they'd exited the lifts into the hangar. First, all the aircraft that had been there were gone, except one last one which was taxiing through the far left hangar door. A moment later the roar of jet engines flared as the jet took off, or so he was told by Connor. The second thing they'd all noticed was the ISA hazmat team that had assembled around the Consular Cruiser. They had just finished cleaning up the ship's leaking coolant fluid, which had flowed out all over the place. For some reason this had made Right'eye angry again, just after he'd calmed himself down.

Suddenly, Riot's thoughts returned to the present as Connor spoke up.

"Hay, Right'eye, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get your name?"

Connor had been curious ever since he'd first heard the clone's name. In the short amount of time he'd known the clones he'd already guessed how the others got their names. It was rather easy to figure out. Riot got his because of his horrible attempts at humor which were in themselves kinda funny. He suspected Jumps got his because he tended to overreact to unknown experiences and finally Tens was Tens because of his unit number 1010. But Right'eye? He could only guess, the clones right brown eye was perfectly normal as far as he could tell. There was only a faint white scar stretching from the right corner of his eye across the eyelid to between the bridge of his nose and his eyebrow. But it was faint and Connor had only recently noticed it.

Right'eye smiled and sat down in the cruiser's main cabin as did the others. They'd just left the cockpit after his assertion that everything was fine. Right'eye sighed; he decided it wouldn't hurt to tell them, it would give him a distraction from all the questions and doubts that plagued his mind.

"It's a bit of a story but we have time if you really want to hear it." He got a unanimous nod of approval from Connor, Julia and even Riot to continue. Riot didn't know and was curious all the same.

"Very well...

When we were eight years of age me and Tens weren't getting along. _Fek_, we'd never really gotten along. Let's just say, in our original squad, Tens was faster, stronger and more popular than me in every way and I hated him for it. But I was smarter than him; repeatedly beating him and the squad in intellectual tests. I'll admit though he wasn't too far behind me. More than once we'd fought and brushed it off. But the animosity was starting to disrupt our squads training. That's when things came to a head. Our training Sergeant noticed and asked what was going on. Tens being second in command and with the popular backing of the squad blamed me. I... I felt betrayed and angry and I wanted revenge," Right'eye's voice was thick with emotion as he told his story, perhaps saying a bit too much for his liking.

"I was punished with extra practice and more work, far more than I deserved but I faced it all without complaint, as unfair as it was. I had to clean everyone's gear and guns including the bunk room every day twice a day. Tens even persuaded our Squad Sergeant to forfeit my rations for an entire week while I trained even harder. Yeah, don't give me that look. Do you honestly believe I didn't have anything to eat for an entire week? No, I snuck rations when I could, though it was a far cry from what I used to get.

It finally came to a point when I couldn't stand it anymore, so I challenged Tens to a fight, a real fight; he accepted. Let's just say a week full of hard labor with little food made me very weak. I fought dirty and aimed low, but he still won easily, knocking me out and in the process, giving me a very, **very** large black shiner on my right eye. Even with bacta and a week of healing my eye was still shut. I didn't fully regain my right field of vision until a year and a half later."

Right'eye chuckled slightly while telling the last part, of course at the time he'd hated his brother with every fiber of his being, but now, it was kinda funny, well sort of. That's when he noticed with amusement the shocked look Riot was giving him and the surprised looks of the two Marines.

"What? I'm not done with the story yet. You're all probably wondering how we became best buds after words, huh? Well, as it so happened, the week after the fight, our squad was scheduled to begin live-fire exercises. I know not good, I was nervous as _osik. _My right side was completely blind and my training helmet's wrap-around vision didn't help. Worst of all, ever since I'd lost the fight with Tens; my brothers didn't show any interest in helping me out. I was completely alone, something no brother should ever face.

The cloners who'd cloned and raised us weren't known for their kindness. They hated weakness and rooted it out constantly. So it came as no surprise when the first exercise was with artillery and commando droids. I remember how I tried sticking with any squad brother I could find, using only my left field of vision. But they avoided me, and I was left to fend for myself, crouched behind a barricade. I wasn't completely helpless, I still had perfect aim with my left eye, but I was definitely at a major disadvantage. I constantly had to look around to make sure no droids would surprise me.

It was at the barricade that I felt it on my right side; I didn't have to turn to know what a droids cold blaster barrel felt like against my neck. But with it's vibroblade under my throat, it forced me to look up. A sense of dread and despair crept over me; I was going to die, alone and unwanted, but part of me wanted to die then, to let go would be so easy. The droid uttered what I could swear was evil mechanical laughter, before the sound and flash of blue blaster bolts hit my senses and the droid suddenly blew up. I barely had time to duck from the raining shrapnel. The next moment Tens was next to me, crouched down and yelling in my ear about how much of a _di'kut_ I was for letting the droid attack me like that.

I was livid with anger and betrayal. How dare he blame **me** for the disability **he** caused! So I threw off my helmet and looked with a hateful and tear-filled eye into his helmeted face. Though I couldn't see his face completely, the abrupt stoppage of his lecture and visible sag of his head let me know he'd forgotten about my injury. He mumbled something then, probably an apology, though due to the artillery blasts I couldn't hear him. The next moment he suddenly shoved my helmet back on as we were attacked by more droids. I took left and he took right. Throughout the rest of the battle he stayed glued to my right side, protecting me. He gave me my name that day and every exercise afterwards he covered my blind spot, even when we were shipped out to Geonosis he stayed by my side.

We've been close friends ever since that first exercise..." Right'eye stated the last bit mostly to himself, then realizing he still had a captive audience tried not to look embarrassed while spitting out, "_Osik!_ I didn't mean to go on like that, I, uhh, hope you're all satisfied."

By the looks he received they were. That's when Riot spoke up, "Umm, thanks for the detailed description, _ner vod_. I hate to interrupt anymore of your reminiscing but shouldn't you be reporting back to your _best buddy_?"

Resisting the urge to punch Riot squarely in the face he nodded. Placing his helmet back on he opened up his long-range comms and opened a general channel so Riot could hear too.

"Tens come in, this is Right'eye, do you copy?" He could use the long-range comms now that they didn't need to worry about alerting the seppies to their location.

After a bit of static, Tens filtered but clearly relieved voice came through, "I copy you Right'eye, what's your status?"

Relief flooded Right'eye's mind and body when he heard his brother's voice again. Ever since he realized what his brother was capable of a short while ago he'd been on edge, as if a Kaminoan scientist would suddenly jump out and take his beloved brother away from him forever. _Not going to happen, longnecks, I promised him that, vode an._ Besides after remembering exactly how far they'd come since Kamino, he wasn't going to start hating his brother again, even if he was different.

"Umm, right. Mission accomplished, let's, uhh, just say the beacon might need some repairs once the ships back aboard one of the destroyers. Oh and speaking of the ship, it will probably need to be towed to get it onboard, the coolant leak finished, uh, leaking."

"I'm not even going to ask what you did_ vod_, however good job in doing it. Me and Jumps with the rest of Delta are heading to you now. We'll be there when the first seppie transports reach dirt side. We've been given new orders from the Generals to keep that Cruiser safe from the Sepp's at all costs until reinforcements arrive. That, _ner vod_ is when the fun begins." Right'eye could hear the anticipation and excitement in his brother's voice, fighting was what they were bred for.

"See you soon, I promise not to trash too many clankers until you arrive."

"Yeah, well just don't be a _di'kut_ like Riot and everything should be fine."

"Hay! That's uncalled for, besides your _cyare vod_ just told a very inter..." Riot never finished as his brother interrupted him.

"I don't think you have to worry about that, Tens. Right'eye out."

###

**A/N: **Well, I hope you enjoyed the update. I sure did. Finally got to the dialogue between Tens and Lisa, I thought it came out good. If it wasn't for their other meeting I'm sure we would have had a much longer conversation, though in that universe I'm afraid Lisa might have died... or not.

Anyways, I'm also very happy to finally give more background into the relationship between Tens and Right'eye. I bet you thought they were always brothers by choice, right? Well, I'm looking at a possible prequel, it will include Tens and Right'eye's back-story in detail, and Jumps and Riots too, I'm rather excited as there is a lot of possible material to cover in such a story. But I will finish this story first and possibly its sequel, depends on interest and time.

Also, if you noticed my little scene at the beginning then you know that I'm not a fan of the incessant Ads on a certain site which shall not be named, mostly because I like the site and as mentioned before I am extremely cautious to not upset the powers that be. I also gave a nod to _Captain Rex and the Last Cheese Pretzel_ by Queen, LongLiveTheClones, and laloga. A very fun read for those that haven't ventured to read it yet. Soooo, as always please review, I don't own star wars and I'll be away on vacation this weekend : ) So that means I will reply to reviews as soon as I get back. Thanks for reading...

_cyare vod _– Beloved, loved or popular brother, in this case beloved fits in with Riot's teasing.


	15. Chapter 15 To Defend Quantico

**A/N: **The first part below is very descriptive, just bare with me. I'll explain more at the bottom of the chapter. Thanks and please review...

* * *

"_I believe it was only in only a few generations that human slaves learned more from the Rakata than the Rakata knew. It's believed that with the help of other enslaved species a resistance grew, unknown by their subjugators. They constructed a virus to annihilate the Rakata, inexplicably being helped by the very weapon which the Rakata had built so selfishly for themselves; the Star Forge." ____- Excerpt from Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn's Holocron, Jedi Archives_

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, Quantico Station, 41 days ABG, Earth year 2035, May, 25****th****, 2:56 pm:**

Commander Owen Atkinson was a very proud Marine; though he wouldn't openly admit it. His men had just accomplished the impossible. In fifteen minutes of notice all nonessential personnel and civilians had been evacuated and they'd finished setting up four main rings of defense to protect Quantico Station from a possible air and ground invasion. From outer to inner the defenses were color coded for attack risk; Red, Orange, Yellow and Green respectively.

The Commander also had three smaller defensive rings set up called Gold, Indigo and Blue around Turner Field where the GARD Hangar was located; the same Hangar the Alien ship was in. Atkinson still found what he had been told, hard to believe, he'd seen the ship himself but still preferred to think of all of this as an elaborate training exercise. However, the evacuation of Washington D.C was real so he really had no choice but to accept what the President told him.

To prepare for the invasion, the President ordered the FAA to ground all flights both domestic and international. To help with this, Atkinson dispatched all of Quantico's Jetfighters; 106 of the Sixth Generation advanced _Interceptor_-class. The jets not escorting flights to the ground were securing US air space. Twenty of the Bases thirty CH-49 Chinook Helicopters were being used to evacuate Washington. The rest were evacuating government employees in the area. Only a handful of Quantico's Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's), the RQ-10 Storm, were dispatched. UAV's were great for aerial surveillance and First Strike capabilities but they didn't come close to the manned _Interceptor_-class jetfighters for air to air combat. Atkinson hoped to use the UAV's for following the advance of the droid forces.

As to his men, they were all armed with the M5 Multi-use Assault Rifle System Carbine (MARS). This weapon replaced the older M4A1 Carbines adopted by the US army earlier in the century. The M5 Carbine had Grenade Launcher, Sniping Scope, and Bayonet attachments like its predecessor but unlike its predecessor it had several extra abilities making it a truly Multi-use weapon.

For instance, the Carbine took a standard issue 50 round magazine which included forty regular 5.56×44mm rounds (Regular) but also had ten 8.6×70mm rounds (Sniping). Built into the gun was a laser guidance system for grenades and bullets alike, a friendly fire prevention system and a size-changing chamber for the multi-caliber magazines. Three other important attachments complimented these systems. One, used with the sniping scope, increased the guns barrel length from 15 to 26 inches for sniping with the 8.6×70mm bullets. Another attachment increased the guns laser power. When used with the sniping scope, a soldier could detonate IED's or det's from afar and could disable enemy vehicles precisely without being noticed. The last attachment was a repelling gun, able to shoot 500 ft. of thin high strength carbon-fiber cable able to hold 1,000 pounds at full deployment.

Commander Atkinson planned to use the Bases Anti-Aircraft missile defense systems to drive the Separatist transports either north or south of the Base. This would force them into a ground based assault. He was taking somewhat of a chance relying on them to do this, but he had the Air Force to back him up if they should try any other attack.

Quantico Station is located several miles south of Washington D.C. along the Potomac River. The north side of the Base is bordered by Quantico Creek. The entire west side is bordered by Hwy 1, then farther west by Interstate 95. These two Hwy's parallel each other running from north to south. The southern border of Quantico is Chopawamsic Creek. Finally the Potomac River and Washington Metro's High Speed rail line form the eastern border. Atkinson used natural barriers such as the creeks and bridges to form his defenses of his Base. Since Turner Field is in the southeast corner of the Base, it was his fallback location. If they were overrun his men would fall back into the hangar and into waiting evac boats along the Potomac.

The first outer Red Defense has a total of 4,040 Marines. It starts north where Quantico Creek empties into the Potomac River. Following the creek west through forest, Red Defense consists of camouflaged Marine's stationed every 10 meters. Where Quantico Creek crosses under both sides of Hwy 1, roadblocks were set up on the bridges. A little farther West and the I-95 bridges were also heavily fortified with Marines, M1A2 Abram tanks and portable Coldstinger Electromagnetic Railguns (CEMRG's). East of the Interstate, Red Defense curved south through the woods to Chopawamsic Creek. This eastern part consists of the same defenses as the Quantico Creek section with camouflaged Marines stationed every few meters. Red Defense then turns west following Chopawamsic Creek to the Potomac. The bridges for I-95 and Hwy 1 over this creek also have similar defenses as the northern bridges on Quantico Creek. The High Speed rail line along the Potomac was heavily guarded where it cross' both creeks as all four rings of defense share those sections. As to the Potomac itself, the U.S.S. Carter, a _Zumwalt_-class destroyer anchored itself off the Base. It would supplement the Bases AA-guns and prevent any possible water-based attacks.

Orange Defense is closer to the main Base with just 2,540 Marines. Two roads lead into Quantico; Fuller Rd. to the North and Russell Rd. to the south. Where these roads intersect with Hwy 1 roadblocks and barricades with Abrams tank compliments were set up. These roads are also the two main entrances to Quantico from Interstate I-95 but are also choke points. So Atkinson set up sniper teams to cover these areas as well. He figured if the droids made it past Red Defense they would be forced into these two deadly spots of entrance at Orange Defense.

The third ring; Yellow Defense, follows power pylons that run across the Base from north to south effectively halving it into two east and west sections. Yellow merges its northern and southern borders with Orange defense which follows the two creeks to the Potomac. Since Yellow Defense serves as a rallying point if the two outer defenses were breached it only has 750 Marines. Every survivor would make their way to this line of defense if their line falls so Atkinson expects its numbers would increase.

The last and inner most defense before the defenses around Taylor Airfield was Green Defense. Green surrounds the main Base itself and its facilities. Consisting of concrete Jersey barriers and sandbags; a rough wall follows the entire length of this last defense with Marines stationed every ten meters. All access roads including Fuller and Russell roads are blocked with funnel like garrisons to allow for maximum firing range. Abrams, CEMRG's and even landmines defended this last defense line.

Green Defense was where Atkinson found himself, busily giving out orders through his HUD and receiving updates from the ISA. Suited up in full special ops armor he had his M5 Carbine with his favorite Grenade launcher attachment attached. Looking west up Fuller road he couldn't help but think of the 8,600 some odd Marines he had defending his entire Base. In Green defense alone, he had 1,340. Around him at the Fuller road barricade two hundred armored Marines were ready to fight, their Carbines aimed down the road. Somewhere in the woods on either side of the road were his élite sniper units waiting for the perfect shot. While behind him were the massive Railguns and Tanks and even farther behind that his AA-missile defenses were set to fire at a moments notice. He smiled.

_Whoever these aliens are, we'll show them what a mistake it was to attack the US mainland and what a fatal mistake it is to invade the home of the Marines, ____Semper Fi!_

**Location: Far Outer Rim, Planet Earth, White House, 2:58 pm:**

"So, how'd your meeting go? I take it went well," James asked the President from across the table. They were stuck quickly hashing through the last of the Presidents address to the Nation and world. It was still a draft and unfortunately wouldn't be ready until the invasion began. The UN had considered taking control of all broadcasts both nationally and internationally to combat any panic through the spread of news, but it was decided that in itself would cause a lot more panic. Besides, they would also have to shut down the Internet to prevent the spread of news on social media. That drastic measure however wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Well, it was shorter and more to the point than I had intended," she smirked a little remembering Tens shocked look, "Unfortunately, the movies strike yet again in their accuracy, at least with regard to the clones. His flash-training took over and almost killed me but..."

James, at hearing this, jumped up, "He did what! Wha... Why wasn't Trevor or one of the other Marines around, I mean Jesus Christ Lisa you could have died! I told you they're not to be trusted..."

"Enough James!" Lisa sighed, he way to protective of her. Besides, she knew full well what the risks were when she'd decided to tell Tens, "I know, I know, but we **can** trust him."

"How are you so sure, you just said he..."

"Look... James, the fact that he didn't kill me, that he **could** control himself and did the right thing shows us he isn't blinded by his loyalty. He said he would consider what I said and I believe in the end he will do the right thing. We just need to keep him alive so he can."

James gave her an accusatory look, "You '_believe_' he will? My gosh, you just put the fate of the entire galaxy in the hands of one of the worst actors, don't you remember what they do, what they carry out! Why don't we just tell the Jedi?"

"I **do** believe he will; we need something to believe in now more than ever. And have you ever considered what the Jedi might do if we just out right told them? Hearing it from a clone... I think it would help them."

"What, the clones? They're not the ones who need..."

"If not they could be killed, all of them," she interrupted then letting out a deep breath, she thought of a better way to explain it, "Think of it this way; if you're very existence was threatened by an enemy, and you had the chance to wipe them out before they could harm you, wouldn't you do it? I have a feeling the Jedi wouldn't hesitate to rid the galaxy of the clones if they saw them as an imminent threat. That's why it's important a clone tells them."

"I don't know. Do you think they would trust him anymore than if they'd found out the info by themselves?" James sounded unsure, then with conviction continued, "And yes, I would kill the enemy, that's what were going to do to the..."

"Yes, I know, were doing that very thing, but that's more of a statement. Besides, they're droids not living creatures in that ship!"

"I'd almost call it overkill but..." James paused as a sudden thought occurred to him, "Wait a sec! This is personal, isn't it? You're still upset about our own cloning program and its results. Look, Lisa, I admire your compassion, but you can't..."

"No!" she shouted, anger getting the better of her calm, cool and collected demeanor, "Our clones are in no different a situation than the ones in the Republic. The Chairman believes them to be inferior; you know how I feel about his views. It was started already when we gained office; I couldn't put a stop to it and kill all of them. We didn't treat them as Human... James, rather slaves, slaves of the US, just like the clones are slaves of the Republic. They **all** deserve better. Could you condemn millions of men to death? Because telling the Jedi directly will very well do that."

James sat back and rubbed his hair in frustration. Why did she have to be such a humanitarian? He had made such good progress in his argument until she'd gone there._ I guess that's what I love about her, she actually cares, something few politicians can even do now a days. She's right of course, but I'm not giving up without a fight._

"Well no, I guess I couldn't, but tell me this, if Tens does tell his General, what makes you think his General wouldn't kill him when he learns the truth? How do you know you didn't just condemn to death the very clone you hope to save by telling him what we know?"

Lisa knew he was giving up the argument. She could tell by his posture and softening of voice, but that last question still hurt. In truth, as nice as General Kenobi seemed, there was the chance he might kill the clone to keep others from knowing that he'd been told. It was a chance though she was willing to take.

"I don't, but I have hope that he won't. Why do you think we asked for Kenobi to come down to us? We don't want Tens telling Skywalker, we all know what becomes of him and he would likely kill the clone in anger. What? I don't think it's inconceivable. Anyways, with Kenobi down here, we can keep him in check if Tens does tell him."

"What if he tells him back aboard one of their Star Destroyers?"

"Then, without sending Delta up with him, all we can do is hope for the best."

James was about to finally agree with her, but was stopped as an un-helmeted fully armored Marine entered the room from the West Wing. It was obvious by the Marines abrupt stop and quick looks around that he'd never been in the Oval Office before. After glancing at the two Secret Service agents standing by the door, he quickly composed himself, pulled out a hasty salute and delivered his report.

"Mrs. President, Mr. Vice President, the Separatist ship has arrived. I am to escort you back down to the command center immediately. Please follow me."

"I'm afraid we aren't leaving," Lisa stated calmly, she wouldn't be scared down into some bunker to give her address. No, she would give it from the White House Rose Garden as she'd done before to show solidarity and courage to the American people. Then maybe, she'd hurriedly enter the below ground levels.

"Sir?" The young Marine asked confused.

"That's an order I'm afraid, however, you can stay with us if you want. I need to run the speech off someone beforehand anyways."

The Marine stood, contemplation written across his face for a few seconds before a solid wall of resolve overtook his features.

"With all due respect Ma'am, your Secret Service detail, the Chairman, the ISA and myself included strongly disagree with that course of action. If you would just please..."

"Look, son," James interrupted, "I think you'll find that there's more than one way to serve your country. At this time, we will not hide from our enemies like cowards, we will stand strong and we will show these Separatist invaders that Humanities resolve has never been stronger. We will face this together, we are not afraid, you in the very least could help us in this endeavor." James stated this with such conviction that the Marine simply nodded and took a seat beside him in front of the President.

Lisa smiled, she liked this young Marine. She also had to give credit where credit was due. James was an inspiring and strong-willed leader when he wanted to be. It had been his speeches, his conviction that had helped her win office. Too bad almost all of his latest little speech to the Marine came directly from her international address draft he held in his hands.

**Location: Coruscant, Senate Building, Office of the Supreme Chancellor, 41 days ABG, Earth year 2035:**

Darth Sidious was in a dour mood, today more than most. His exploratory thoughts a few days before when he'd sent out two Republic and two Separatist ships to an unknown region of space was coming back to bite him in the rear. How was he to know that section of space was the one place in the galaxy outside of the Nine Corellian hells the Holo-net didn't reach?

He had the Jedi breathing down his neck to send out a rescue party. At first he'd avoided that by simply assuring the egotistic Jedi Order the lost Jedi would do fine by themselves. Now just a few minutes ago he'd given the excuse that the Republic couldn't afford to divert anymore resources into finding the lost ships. Such was the game of politics. It was a lie, of course; he fully intended to send out his own search party, but one the Jedi wouldn't know about.

The sith now looked with gleaming eyes and an unfaltering frown at his apprentice, "This better be good."

"Master, it is about the two ships sent to find the Senate Representatives."

"What is it?"

"Admiral Gen Hugmar of the Trade Federation has not reported back in. It appears they have been followed by two Republic Destroyers. One of the _Providence_-class destroyers just returned but was, I'm afraid, severely damaged. Evidently they were ambushed. We lost contact with the other."

"What of the star system? Did this ship find anything of interest?"

Count Dooku looked confused by his master's question; he would have thought he would be more concerned about the escaping representatives than the characteristics of a star system.

"If I remember correctly Master, it was an ordinary star system, with nine or so planets. The ship did not get any good scans of the entire system so I do not know if any of them were inhabited. But what about the Representatives, they most surely have gotten away?"

Sidious smiled, an unknown and uninhabited system would be perfect for some of his more ambitious projects, "I'm afraid my information on the representatives was… mistaken, they were never onboard the original assault ship. It is a minor setback for now, but rest assured we will have better chances in the future."

"Indeed, that is most unfortunate. What do you wish for me to do about the remaining ship with the Admiral, he is a highly decorated officer, if the Republic has their forces there I should like to reinforce his position at..."

"It is unimportant; if he does not report back then you may send more ships to investigate. I must leave now, but I will contact you when I have more reliable information on the imminent Republic assault on Christophsis."

"Yes, Master."

As the Holo-projector flickered out, Sidious felt another ripple in the force, this time far stronger than the others. He realized then it was as he feared; the balance of the force was tilting away from the Dark Side. Each ripple lifted ever so slightly the dark veil he had so carefully weaved over the galaxy. He now knew where the ripples were emanating from; he would put a stop to it at once. After changing back to his Chancellor Robes and garbs, he pressed a few buttons on the Holo-projector. Captain Tarkin suddenly flickered onto the screen.

"Captain, it is good to see you again. I understand your awaiting your new Jedi General, Even Piell,"

"You're Excellency; it is a pleasure to see you again. And yes, I am still waiting."

"Well, I'm sure he will arrive soon enough, however before he does Captain, I have a very urgent mission for you. I think it is important we find out what happened to the Resolute and Negotiator. The Jedi Council has requested a search party be sent out at once. Please go to these coördinates and asses the situation. You know what to do, do not fail me."

"As you wish, my _lord_."

**Location: Above Earth, Bridge of the CIS ****_Providence_****-Class Destroyer, May 25****th****, 2:59 pm:**

"Admiral, sir, we are just outside the planet's atmosphere as you requested, do you wish to deploy the transports and fighters?" The B1 Commander Droid asked looking up from its data-pad.

"What do our latest scans show? Is there any local resistance?" asked Admiral Hugmar. The Neimoidian was a patient one; he would get what he wanted in the end. One of the reasons Count Dooku had promoted him to Admiral for the Trade Federation, much to Nute Gunray's displeasure.

"Well, sir, our scanners show a substantial build up of ground forces around the cruiser. The scans show the city to the north is being evacuated. It also appears they have some sort of air force present. Shall we deploy the Vulture droids first, sir?"

"Hmm... Interesting, have you identified the species that lives on this planet? If we know what species they are then we can make some... assumptions on what type of weaponry and tactics they may use."

"Yes, sir, our onboard computer matched the characteristics of their cities as either belonging to a Human or a Humanoid species."

"Humans... very well Commander, we will split our forces. Send three of the six C-9979's to this northern city. Order these units to kill as many civilians in the city as they can, maximum casualties would be best. If this species is indeed human they will divert their forces to the city to protect them. When they do, send in the Hyena Bombers. We will make quick work of them before the Republic even has a chance to interfere. As for the other three transports, keep them on the original course but send all of our BX units with them."

"Yes, sir." With that the Commander Droid left the bridge for the lower hangar bay.

Issuing the Admirals new lethal orders, the droid quickly had the BX's loaded. After checking that all of their forces were ready the Commander boarded one of the transports that would head for the cruiser's location.

"Sir, we are ready to deploy, waiting for your orders."

"Very good commander, send out the fighters, I want those transports protected at all costs."

"Roger, Roger."

**Location: The Negotiator passing the Planet Mars, ETA to Earth 9 Standard Minutes, 3:00 pm:**

In one of the Negotiator's dull durasteel hallways two clones saluted their General as he walked swiftly past them to the main hangar bay lifts. Cody strode at his heels, knowing his Generals furled brows meant he wasn't in the mood to talk. Cody knew why, this planet and its people had thrown a wrench in a lot of things. Namely the belief that Humans had originated from the core.

As soon as they had entered the lifts Obi-wan wasted no time in making his thoughts known.

"How is this possible Cody? I was always told in the Temple that Humans, our species came from Coruscant, or at least a nearby world. My old master, Qui-Gon mentioned something of a passing doubt. What do you think?"

_Great, the Generals asking me what I think about philosophical osik, yeah this will be interesting._

"Well, General, she did seem to say it with some conviction. And by the looks of our scans they're only just beginning to explore space. So, without any other explanation, I think she must be speaking the truth, sir."

"That's what concerns me. If this is indeed the original Homeworld of the Human species, how did we manage to spread throughout the galaxy from the core? How did Humans get from the outer rim to the core 25,000 years ago?"

"I don't know sir. But I think we should be focusing on the mission at hand."

Obi-wan sighed, "Your right, we should focus on helping these people now. Though I'm sure this is something the Jedi Council would be interested in later. Cody, are our men ready?"

Cody smiled, "Yes, sir!"

**Location: CT-****23-1549's Thoughts : )**

_I can't stop thinking about her! Why? Her face is beautiful but her eyes, they're so blue, I could just stare at them forever... _

Wait! What are you doing soldier! You don't have time for women, your duty is to the Republic first and your brothers! You're not going soft on me now _are you_?

_I know, I know, duty comes before self, got it, but I really can't stop thinking about her, did you see how she stared at me? I think she likes me. _

I hate to break it to you boy but you're a clone! There's nothing special about you, even if she did like you, she'd probably have the same feelings towards the rest of your _vode_. You all look the same; well you and your precious brother by choice are barely indistinguishable, compared to the other two. Why do you guys insist upon keeping your standard fresh-off-the-mint look anyways? _Shinies_...

_We don't, we just haven't decided how we want to change our looks. Once we earn our paint, then we'll change our styles. And your changing the topic you di'kut, your supposed to be thinking about the girl!_

What girl? I don't recall anything about a girl. Besides, your older brothers probably have dibs on her anyways. Or are you planning on arguing that with them?

_Tens, Right'eye? Yeah right, since when have they ever shown any interest in girls outside of what they show for each other? But I think they're more concerned with the current situation anyways. _

So you're not concerned, not one bit, about any competition? Well, if you're so sure of yourself, why not tell her how you feel. Maybe then you'd stop thinking so much about it. I'm not sure how much more of this girl talk I can stand anyways. It's sickening, and not in a good way.

_Right! Well yeah, I'll do it, just to show you I can! Umm... just one question, how? _

Pathetic, very pathetic, and here I thought you were a confident little trooper. Well, who do you normally ask about such things?

_They'll make fun of me._

Well then Riot, your stuck calibrating your deece over her for the rest of your life instead of actually firing off a few shots.

_Hmm... Well put, I'll ask, but I'm telling you, they're going to laugh at me, like they normally do._

Someone's a bit sensitive aren't they? You better show more courage on the battlefield soldier, those clankers don't care if you're crying like a nerf herder during a fight. Good way to get yourself and brothers killed.

_Yes, sir!_

* * *

**Important!**** Story Note:** Sorry about the beginning, very descriptive and probably a bit confusing. A list of all Earth weapons mentioned is below, I highly recommend looking it over as I'll be referring to that information throughout the rest of the story.

I have a map, yeah a map I know, trust me, it helps. Since Quantico is a very real place I made a map of it with an overlay of all pertinent info. Under WAWL in my Profile there's a link to Deviant Art for it. And yes, What if I did use Google Earth and Microsoft Paint to make it? Still works in my book... By the way, I do not own Microsoft Paint or Google Earth... : )

Riot does **not** have Multiple Personality Disorder or Schizophrenia. He was in control of both sides of his thought process. He uses that method to pump himself up to do something he doesn't really want to do. He's pretty much playing Devils Advocate with himself. Poor guy, if he isn't given a hard time by his brothers than he's giving himself an even harder time. But what can I say he's a shinie and when Jumps isn't there to reassure him, then he has to do it by himself.

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the update. With the amount of research I did on the beginning part and the list below I'm probably on some sort of government watch list. Heh, heh... heh, yeah... just kidding, just kidding. I don't own star wars... Please review and look at the list below!

-Sly

List of Earth Weapons Mentioned Above:

M5-MARS Carbine – A highly versatile assault rifle closely resembling its predecessor the M4A1 Carbine. Initially used only by the Marine Corps and US/UN special ops during the late 2020's. Officially adopted as army standard issue in 2030. Has numerous attachments, far more than mentioned and is easy to use. The MARS Carbine is the weapon of choice for Delta Squad.

_Interceptor_-class Jetfighter – A sixth generation Jetfighter used widely by the US/UN since 2024. Hundreds built to date. Pretty much an upscale version of the current F-22 Raptor. The Interceptor is faster, more maneuverable and has advanced stealth capabilities that made China develop its own advanced fighters in response.

CH-49 Chinook Helicopters – I'm sure you've all seen the predecessors to these, the double-bladed helicopters. Used in disaster relief, evacuations and cargo and troop transport. Think of them as Earth's version of the LAAT/I gunship. Can carry up to 60 soldiers, this version of the Chinook is heavily armored with lightweight carbon plating. Also has more guns and missile defenses as this type of helicopter is notoriously defenseless in combat zones.

RQ-10 Storm – The Marine Corps own version of a predator drone. This one, however, is smaller, faster and carries far less weapons. Meant more for reconnaissance than for fighting. However, its advanced stealth and smallness make it a great first strike weapon for precision targets. It can carry a small Nuclear Warhead capable of destroying a 50-60 square mile area. Yay! Or not...

M1A2 Abram Tanks – A holdover from the earlier part of the Century, the Abram tank is not the fastest or for that matter strongest of the 2030's period Tanks but its reliable. Plans are being made to replace and phase it out for good.

Quantico's AA-Defense Missiles – Similar to the current Anti-Aircraft missile systems being used across the world, only difference is they're predictably faster, undetectable to conventional radar and pack a rather large punch, insuring in one hit the target object is destroyed. Will it be enough for the Vulture and Tri-fighters? Find out... in later updates.

_Zumwalt_-Class Destroyer – Commissioned for the Navy in the late 2010's many more have been built since after many design, cost and technical issues were overcome. Depending on when the vessel was built, can carry between 80-150 cruise missiles. The later the manufacture dates the more missile capacity the vessel has. In 2032 all active duty ships were retro-fitted with a complement of eight large-scale CEMRG's capable of firing at a 200 mile range. Each ship also carries four high-energy laser canons for both attack and defense.

Coldstinger Electromagnetic Railguns (CEMRG's) – These advanced attack and defense weapons only recently became available in 2031. Mounted on tank-like armored vehicle's, these big guns can only fire in a straight line, with very little drop. Can reach targets over 100 miles away while losing little velocity. Think of them as an overly advanced canon. Ammunition; a hardened titanium-alloy shell with Iron or Lead core is loaded into a long barrel with two electromagnetic tracks. This is then propelled magnetically down the barrel and exits at speeds of 15,840 feet per second or around 3 miles a second. Can pretty much destroy anything or so they claim; downside is they use a lot of energy to fire repeatedly. Will these work better against the seppies? Atkinson hopes so.


End file.
